With more and more women taking up different jobs in the industry and even turning producers, Madhuri Dixit Nene feels a lot has changed in Bollywood for the better since the ’80s and ’90s. “Women have come a long way, it’s always baby steps,” says the actor, who made her debut with Abodh in 1984.
When I used to do work in the ’80s and ’90s, the only women on set would be me, my co-actors who were women or the hairdressers. “Today, when I walk in on a set — from the DOP (Director of Photography) to the ADs (Assistant Directors), writers and action masters — there are women everywhere. I couldn’t have imagined they would be in the field, which is amazing,” she added.
Madhuri said women have moved from being considered as mere ‘eye candy’ to performing varied roles. “We are 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,” she says. Madhuri was recently seen in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. The actor, 57, said she is actively seeking new and exciting roles that challenge her. “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.
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 and Kalnayak. I felt, ‘Oh my God, people think I’m a star’. “It was a difficult role and N Chandra extracted such a good performance from me.”
She considers the 1992 hit Beta, directed by Indra Kumar, another turning point in her career. That also starred Anil Kapoor. The actor said the success of Beta gave her the opportunity to be part of women-centric dramas like Mrityudand and Pukar. “There was no looking back, I got good opportunities to work with good directors and did films like Pukar, which were very different from what I did on screen, whether it was Mrityudand, Prahaar; these were more realistic films. I thoroughly enjoyed Dil Toh Pagal Hai. I’m lucky that I’m in a profession, which I love.”
