“If Hum Aapke Hain Kaun Is Remade Today, Varun And Alia Can Play The Roles Salman And I Did In The Original”- Madhuri Dixit

Jyothi Venkatesh

What is your role in Kalank?

I play the role of Bahar Begum in Kalank. All that I can say about my character of begum Bahar in Kalank is that she is a very complicated character because all though her life she has had a lot of misgivings which has made her what she has become. It affects her as well as the people around her. Unlike Chandramukhi, who wore her heart on her sleeves, she holds her cards close to her heart and is a big time recluse, because she has suffered a lot in her life. Kalank is not a film about a woman taking revenge.

Does it mean that you had to really ‘act’ your part since you are nowhere near what Bahar Begum is, as I have known you right from the time you were working in Abodh!

You know that I am not complicated in real life but many new journalists are under the impression that I am a Diva with a lot of attitude as there is a strange perception about me that I am very standoffish though I am friendly and I love to make new friends in life and talk a lot.

You are working for the first time with a director like Abhishek Varman. How was Abhishek as a director?

It was a wonderful experience to act under the direction of Abhishek Varman because he is very clear about his vision and what he wants form his performers, right from Day One. Every director creates his own world and if you do not know they story at length you tend to go with then visuals. Abhishek’s world and the characters that he has created in Kalank are very deep and layered and what you get to see is not what you get in the film. Each and every character in Kalank has his or her own deep conflicts and that is what makes the characters very different from one another.

In what way has the scenario changed over the years from the time you had made your debut with Abodh as an actress?

Even then we were as enthusiastic as we are nowadays but today there are a lot of pressures for an actor in the sense that there are social media promotions, besides the promotions in the print media and the electronic media, besides acting. It is very inspiring. I have no complaints because social media has given us our own voice to communicate with all our fans and I enjoy chatting on the social media.

What is your opinion about the new trend of films banking on the week end box office collections of films?

Today everything has become the product of the first week end as far as films are concerned and it is imperative that by hook or crook, your film has got to catch the eye balls of the audiences. That is because earlier Cinema was the only form of entertainment whereas nowadays there are various outlets for entertaining. In those good old days films could grow slowly like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun did. It is an entirely different world in which we are living today.

Does it mean that the pressures an actor faces have increased?

The pressures were always there, whether it is today or earlier, because the films had to deliver. But whether a film turns out to be a hit or not it is not in the actors’ hands. It depends on many things. As an actor, if I do my job well, half the battle won.

You staged your comeback with Aaj Nachle after your marriage but then but for a few films like Gulabi Gang and Dedh Ishqia, you vanished from the scene only to emerge with Marathi films like Bucket List, 15 August etc and Hindi films like Total Dhamaal and now Kalank.

In life, I have always believed in some planning. I took up Devdas after marriage. I loved having kids and hence after Aaja Nachle, I started my own production of kids. My kids were growing up and today I am not only a wife but also a mother to two teenager kids who are 16 and 14 years old. I thoroughly enjoyed that phase of my life and never bothered to think of hogging the limelight. To set goals in your life you have to plan five years in advance. I have to strike a balance between my various roles. I and my husband Dr Shriram Nene have made our foray into digital and made dance training programmes.

You turned a producer with a Marathi film. Are there plans to make a Hindi film?

We made a Marathi film called 15 August, which is being streamed on Netflix.  I and my husband Dr Nene started with Marathi because it is our mother tongue and we have our roots in Marathi. I have plans to make films in not only Marathi but also in Hindi.

How did you manage to get Sarojji to choreograph the song Tabaah Ho Gaye in Kalank?

For the first time in Hindi films, two choreographers Sarojji and Remo are choreographing the same dance number together Tabah Ho Gaya in Kalank. After we heard the song, I felt the song deserved Sarojji as a choreographer and vice versa. It has a very balanced kind of choreography with Sarojji supervising my expressions for the scene. Not just the song but even the story had to move ahead during the song. The song comes at a very emotional point in the film.

If Hum Aapke Hain Kaun is remade today, who do you think will fit the bill right to play Salman Khan and your role in it?

Though I am of the opinion that a iconic film like Hum Aapke Hai Kaun can never be replicated, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt will be the right fits for the parts played by Salman Khan and me because  I feel that they can  easily get into any role and  make it their own.

What is on the anvil next after Kalank?

A lot of scripts are being offered to me nowadays. I was just waiting to give a nod till Kalank is released. But since my reality TV show as one of the judges is soon to be aired, I am taking my own time to decide which film I should say yes to.

Can we soon see you emerging as a director or choreographer?

Though I may take up choreography since I am well versed in kathak as well as other classical dances, I am not sure about whether I will take up direction. I do not have the time. I will take up direction only if I have the requisite time to devote to it. Right now I have far too many distractions in front of me including training in music since I have always liked to sing right from my childhood and I feel being just a producer is a better option.

Finally, do you think it is no longer a male dominated film industry?

It is still a male dominated film industry. The only change is that when I did Tezaab, there were very few females on the sets other than us actresses but today there are female make up women, female hairdressers etc thought then female were not allowed to,  do make up as it used to be a male bastion. Today with the emergence of female directors like Zoya Akhtar, Meghna Gulzar, Reema Kagti, Gauri Shinde, a whole new generation of young women filmmakers are coming up, which augurs well for the film industry. Today all female actors are doing extremely well. The way the writers pen stories are also different. The roles that women play are no longer stereo typed, like say Deepika Padukone is playing in Chhapaak or Alia chooses different roles like Raazi. We are inching slowly and steadily towards our goal now.

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Madhuri Dixit, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Kalank, Interview, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun