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'I didn’t want to feel weak while doing a song with ‘Prabhudeva’

There is something about Madhuri Dixit-Nene. A girl who came from a middle-class Maharashtrian background, she would have probably ended up a microbiologist had the Rajshris not discovered her.

Abodh was just a teaser into the Madhuri mania that went on to envelop the nation. She fired the screen with her acting abilities and her excellent dancing skills.

Yet, it has been a long, arduous journey for the actress who joined the industry in 1984. A journey that resulted in her transformation from gawky youngster to successful star.

She learnt to deal with the trappings as well. Be it her link-ups or her marriage, she dealt with both in a dignified manner.

In this interview, she talks to Sukanya Verma about her husband, her soon-to-be-released film and her future.

Let's begin with Pukar. Can you tell us something about the movie?

The film is basically about two people, Anjali and Jaidev. Both have different backgrounds, as a result of which both look at life differently. Anjali is besotted with Jai -- that's Anil Kapoor. She's been in love with him ever since she was a child.

She has only one dream that, when she grows up, she is going to marry him. And now, she has grown up. But Anil falls in love with someone else. She is totally shattered. In her anger, she makes a mistake which puts Anil in a lot of trouble.

The film also sees the whole situation through Anil's point of view; through the character of the jawan who is played by Anil is in the film. Anjali's actions get him into a lot of trouble because of his military background. He also has to fight his own personal trauma because he is the kind of man who will fight for something he believes in over his own self; and one such thing is his country.

As for Anjali, she makes a mistake. But she redeems herself when she realises it and takes a stand and fights for her country. This is the part where they both come together.

Does this mean that your role has negative shades to it?

I don’t know whether to call it negative because everybody has his or her weaknesses. If you call that weakness negative, then there is probably a negative shade. But I would rather call it a weakness. Everyone has their moment of weakness, when they do something that is wrong.

There is a thin line between right and wrong and that thin line is erased when you do something you will probably regret later. That is what happens with Anjali, that is what happens to her character in the film.

So Anjali is a rather grey character?

It is not even grey. I think it's human. It is, like, she does something that is a mistake, something that she should not have done. But she doesn’t realise she is not supposed to do it.

What about the much talked about Que sera sera song? What was it like to match the flexible Prabhudeva, step for step?

It was great. It is one of the nicest experiences I’ve had because he is such a good dancer. We had already shot the song twice, but we kept feeling we had not got it right; that there was something that was not working in this song.

The first time we shot, we felt it was the costumes that were not looking nice. And Boneyji is the kind of producer who’ll go all out to make his film look good. So it is like, “Okay, we will scrap that version and do it again.”

We did it again. Then they realised it's not the costumes or anything, it is the song that’s not working because this is the moment that introduces Anjali in the film. So it had to be a song which says what kind of person she is -- because, when she is introduced through a song, one is not going to be able to show what her character is like or how she interacts with Jai or what her relationship with Jai is. That is when they realised, “Oh, that is the blunder that we are making with the song.” So they decided to re-do it.

I think it takes a lot of guts for a producer to do that. I can’t think of any other name or any other producer who would do that for his film. I think Boneyji was quite gutsy, he went ahead and recorded a new song with Rahman (A R Rahman) and we said, "Yes, this is the song which has to be shot."

Then the next question was, “Who is going to do it to make it look different?” I have worked with many choreographers, I have done a lot of songs, so this one had to be different; it had to grab people’s attention. It shouldn’t be like, “Awww, Madhuri has done that before.” It had to look different.

I think Boneyji hit upon this idea of asking Prabhudeva to do it. It was very sweet of Prabhudeva to agree. He has choreographed the song and danced in it himself and he done a brilliant job in the film.

The first schedule we started, I fell sick (laughs). I was so worried about how I was going to match his steps. We had to cancel the schedule. A month passed by. I had caught viral fever and I didn’t want to feel weak while doing a song with ‘Prabhudeva.’ So I took rest and then we started shooting the song.

And it’s shaped out well?

Oh, I love it (smiles).

Do you prefer working with co-stars whom you have already worked with in the past?

It’s nice to work with them because it makes you feel comfortable. You are not on tenterhooks about how you are going to manage. But that doesn’t mean you don’t want to work with newcomers. Because, sometimes, working with newcomers also gives you an insight to a new side of acting, a new style of acting, new reactions.

Working with Anilji has been a lovely experience from the very beginning. We have done Tezaab together, we did Beta and a lot of other films where we have done different kinds of roles. I can confidentially say Pukar will again bring out a different aspect of our acting and to the relationship you will see on the screen. The whole chemistry you will see is very different in Pukar. It is on a different level altogether.

The next film I do with Soorajji has to be a step ahead

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