Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Dancing Queen


Madhuri Dixit (Marathi: माधुरी दीक्षित) (born Madhuri Shankar Dixit on 15 May 1967) is an Indian Bollywood actress. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses and most accomplished dancers. She appeared in numerous commercial successes and was recognised for several performances as well as dance numbers in various films. Dixit is often cited by the media as one of the most prominent female actresses in Bollywood. In 2008, she was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award by the Government of India.
Early life
Madhuri Dixit is a native of Mumbai, India. She was born Madhuri Shankar Dixit to Shankar and Snehlata Dixit, of a Marathi Brahmin family. Dixit attended Divine Child High School and Mumbai University and wanted to be a microbiologist. She was trained as a Kathak dancer.
Film career
Madhuri Dixit made her acting debut in Abodh in 1984. After a few minor and supporting roles in movies like Dayavan and Vardi, she landed the lead female role in Tezaab (1988), for which she received her first Filmfare nomination. She then starred in a number of films that included Ram Lakhan (1989), Parinda (1989), Tridev (1989), Kishen Kanhaiya (1990) and Prahaar (1991).
In 1990, Dixit starred in Indra Kumar's romantic-drama Dil. She played the role of Madhu Mehra, a rich and arrogant girl who falls in love and later leaves her house to marry. The film became one of the biggest box-office hits of the year in India, and Dixit's performance earned her the first Filmfare Best Actress Award of her career.
Post the success of Dil she starred in movies like Saajan (1991), Beta (1992), Khalnayak (1993), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...! (1994), and Raja (1995). Dixit's performance in Beta, that of a woman married to an illiterate, well-meaning man who exposes her scheming mother-in-law, won her a second Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...! (1994) became one of the biggest grossers in the history of Hindi cinema till that time. It won Dixit her third Filmfare Best Actress Award. In that same year, Dixit was also nominated in the same category for her performance in Anjaam.
Dixit appeared as Pooja in Yash Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) for which she won a fourth Filmfare Best Actress Award. In that same year, Dixit starred in Prakash Jha's Mrityudand. Dixit's performance in the film landed her the Best Actress award at the annual Star Screen Awards.
In 2002, she starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas. Her performance earned her a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. The film was featured at the Cannes Film Festival. The following year a film named after her, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon!, was releasedin which a woman (played by Antara Mali) aspires to become the new Madhuri Dixit by trying her luck in the Bollywood industry.
Dixit is not only known for her acting skills, but for her dancing skills as well. She is notable for her dance sequences accompanying Bollywood songs such as "Ek Do Teen" (from Tezaab), "Humko Aaj Kal Hai" (from Sailaab), "Bada Dukh Deenha" (from Ram Lakhan), "Dhak Dhak" (from Beta), "Chane Ke Khet Mein" (from Anjaam), "Didi Tera Devar Deewana" (from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...!), "Choli Ke Peechhe" (from Khalnayak), "Akhiyan Milaun" (from Raja), "Mera Piya Ghar Aaya" (from Yaraana), "Kay Sera Sera" (from Pukar), and "Maar Daala" (from Devdas).
On 25 February 2006 she performed on stage for the first time in six years at the Filmfare Awards to music from her last movie Devdas.[18] Her performance was choreographed by Saroj Khan.
On 7 December 2006, Dixit returned to Mumbai with her husband and sons to start filming for Aaja Nachle (2007) The film released in November 2007 and, despite the critics panning it, Dixit's performance was highly appreciated with the New York Times commenting about her that "she's still got it".
Madhuri Dixit has been the muse for the famous Indian painter M.F. Husain. He made a film in 2000 named Gaja Gamini, in which Madhuri acted. The film was intended as a tribute to Dixit herself. In 2010/2011, she appeared as a judge of the dance reality show Jahlak Dikhlaja 4
On Women's International Day in 2007, Dixit topped Rediff's list of the Best Bollywood Actresses Ever. In May 2008, she was given a tribute by Indian Film Festival at Los Angeles. In March 2010, The Economic Times named Madhuri Dixit in the list of the "33 women who made India proud".
Personal life
In 1999, Madhuri Dixit married Shriram Madhav Nene, a UCLA-trained cardiovascular surgeon who practices in Denver.[28][29][30] Nene is also from a Marathi Brahmin family.[31] She has two sons, Arin (born in March 2003 in Colorado) and Raayan (born in March 2005 in Colorado).
She has two elder sisters, Rupa and Bharati, and an elder brother, Ajit. Madhuri and her family are based in Denver, Colorado, USA.

1 comment:

olive said...

so beauty...
like it