More power to women turning producers, says Madhuri Dixit Nene

PTI Mumbai: With more and more women taking up different jobs in the industry and even turning producers, Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit Nene says a lot has changed in Bollywood for the better since the ‘80s and ‘90s. Madhuri, who made her debut with “Abodh” in 1984 and went on to be a part of films like “Dil To Pagal Hai”, “Tezaab”, “Beta” and “Raja”, recalled how movie sets would earlier have only female actors and their hairdressers. “Women have come a long way, it’s always baby steps. When I used to do work in the 80s, and 90s, the only women on the set used to be me, my coactors who were women or the hairdressers. Today, when I walk in on a set from the DOP to the ADs, writers, and action masters there are women everywhere.

I couldn’t have imagined they would be in the field, which is amazing,” the actor told PTI in an interview. Lauding the gradual shift, Madhuri said women have moved from being considered as mere “eyecandies” to performing varied roles and they are now even producing the films. “We are also seeing women in action roles, which is amazing. Like in ‘Gulaab Gang’, I did my action role, and that film was a very women-centric kind of movie. But we need to make more commercial kinds of movies, which are women-centric, it will happen slowly. There are a lot of actors, like women, who are turning producers if they want to make their kind of movies, which is also amazing, and more power to them,” she added. In recent years, Alia Bhatt, Kriti Sanon and Kangana Ranaut have turned to production. Despite the shift, Madhuri said the change won’t happen overnight. “Even if it’s here or abroad or anywhere, to a certain extent, it’s a man’s world.

It will take some time to change that and we are getting there.” Madhuri was most recently seen in “Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3”, which also features Kartik Aaryan, Triptii Dimri and Vidya Balan in lead roles. Directed by Anees Bazmee, the film is the third installment in the “Bhool Bhulaiyaa” franchise and had its theatrical release on November 1. The actor, 57, said she is actively seeking new and exciting roles that challenge her. “Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3” appealed to her because of the horrorcomedy genre. “Being a ghost (in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’) was very different. I’m still looking at very different roles, and something exciting is going to happen very soon,” she said. Madhuri considers “Tezaab” her first big turning point in cinema. In the film, she played Mohini, a woman who dances to support her father. Her dance number ‘Ek Do Teen’ from the movie is popular even today. The N Chandra-directed movie, also starring Anil Kapoor and Anupam Kher, ran in cinemas for almost 50 weeks. “The first big turning point for me was ‘Tezaab’, I started getting recognised after that movie, and then other (films) followed, like ‘Dil’, ‘Beta’, ‘Raja’, ‘Kalnayak’. I felt, ‘Oh my god, people think I’m a star’. “It was a difficult role and N Chandra (director) extracted such a good performance from me.” She considers the 1992 hit “Beta”, directed by Indra Kumar, another turning point in her career.

The movie, again co-starring Kapoor, had another hit song in ‘Dhak Dhak’, which became synonymous with Madhuri. The actor said the success of “Beta” gave her the opportunity to be part of women-centric dramas like “Mrityudand” and “Pukar” and others. “…There was no looking back, I got good opportunities to work with good directors and did films like ‘Pukar’, which were also very different from what I did on screen, whether it was ‘Mrityudand’, ‘Prahaar’ these were more realistic films.