Denver homemaker and mother of two sons, Madhuri Dixit is back in India's vibrant movie industry after a five-year break with a film centered around her forte — dancing.
"It makes me a little nervous whether people will accept me again," Dixit said ahead of the worldwide release of her new movie "Aaja Nachle," or "Come Let's Dance," on Nov. 30. "It makes me nervous, but I'm excited."
Dixit plays a choreographer who after a decade in New York returns to India to save her dance teacher's school from being razed for a more lucrative development.
Dixit was last seen on the big screen in 2002, when she played a courtesan in a saga of doomed love in "Devdas." After that, she took a break from acting to raise her two sons with husband Shriram Nene, a surgeon, in Denver, Colorado.
Dixit, 42, said that moving to the United States was a refreshing change from her fishbowl existence in India, where she could never walk down a street or shop at a corner store.
Her brown eyes sparkled when she laughed and said that her anonymity was short-lived due to a large presence of Indians in the United States.
South Asian parents at her son's preschool soon began to recognize her, and curious American neighbors sought DVDs of her old movies.
"It's a novelty for them to know someone famous in India because they meet other Indians who tell them, 'Oh, we are great fans, could you please get us an autograph,'" Dixit told The Associated Press in an interview in Mumbai on Thursday. "The curiosity is very positive."
Dixit said she missed her acting career at times, but not the celebrity that went with it.
"Well, I missed my craft," Dixit said. "I've never been part of the other paraphernalia that comes with it."
One of Bollywood's best known actresses, in the 1990s Dixit was ranked as the country's top actress by movie magazines.
Graceful Indian classical dancing, sizzling Western moves, and strong acting in largely romantic films were Dixit's ticket to fame.
She first danced her way to stardom in 1988 with the song "Ek, Do Teen" in the film "Tezaab," or "Acid."
Dixit went on to become India's highest paid actress with such hits as "Hum Apke Hain Kaun," or "What Am I To You," and "Dil To Pagal Hain," or "The Heart is Crazy."
Dixit, now slimmer, fitter and more radiant than in her younger days, said she is open to more movies as long as she can juggle her children's schedules with work.
With her new movie "Aaja Nachle," Dixit seeks to challenge a long-held view in Bollywood that female stars do not attract crowds after they get married and have children.
"Male chauvinism is everywhere, whether in society or in the movies," she said. "Women are fighting hard and they are trying hard to break through."
She will also challenge the Bollywood format of lead actor dominating the movies.
There is no male lead in her new movie, only a minor love angle with popular actor Akshaye Khanna.
"The film has a hero and heroine and that's Madhuri," said director Anil Mehta. "The love interest is not a major part since there are many other things she is preoccupied with."
"It makes me a little nervous whether people will accept me again," Dixit said ahead of the worldwide release of her new movie "Aaja Nachle," or "Come Let's Dance," on Nov. 30. "It makes me nervous, but I'm excited."
Dixit plays a choreographer who after a decade in New York returns to India to save her dance teacher's school from being razed for a more lucrative development.
Dixit was last seen on the big screen in 2002, when she played a courtesan in a saga of doomed love in "Devdas." After that, she took a break from acting to raise her two sons with husband Shriram Nene, a surgeon, in Denver, Colorado.
Dixit, 42, said that moving to the United States was a refreshing change from her fishbowl existence in India, where she could never walk down a street or shop at a corner store.
Her brown eyes sparkled when she laughed and said that her anonymity was short-lived due to a large presence of Indians in the United States.
South Asian parents at her son's preschool soon began to recognize her, and curious American neighbors sought DVDs of her old movies.
"It's a novelty for them to know someone famous in India because they meet other Indians who tell them, 'Oh, we are great fans, could you please get us an autograph,'" Dixit told The Associated Press in an interview in Mumbai on Thursday. "The curiosity is very positive."
Dixit said she missed her acting career at times, but not the celebrity that went with it.
"Well, I missed my craft," Dixit said. "I've never been part of the other paraphernalia that comes with it."
One of Bollywood's best known actresses, in the 1990s Dixit was ranked as the country's top actress by movie magazines.
Graceful Indian classical dancing, sizzling Western moves, and strong acting in largely romantic films were Dixit's ticket to fame.
She first danced her way to stardom in 1988 with the song "Ek, Do Teen" in the film "Tezaab," or "Acid."
Dixit went on to become India's highest paid actress with such hits as "Hum Apke Hain Kaun," or "What Am I To You," and "Dil To Pagal Hain," or "The Heart is Crazy."
Dixit, now slimmer, fitter and more radiant than in her younger days, said she is open to more movies as long as she can juggle her children's schedules with work.
With her new movie "Aaja Nachle," Dixit seeks to challenge a long-held view in Bollywood that female stars do not attract crowds after they get married and have children.
"Male chauvinism is everywhere, whether in society or in the movies," she said. "Women are fighting hard and they are trying hard to break through."
She will also challenge the Bollywood format of lead actor dominating the movies.
There is no male lead in her new movie, only a minor love angle with popular actor Akshaye Khanna.
"The film has a hero and heroine and that's Madhuri," said director Anil Mehta. "The love interest is not a major part since there are many other things she is preoccupied with."
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