Bharati Dubey

It was a long wait. But we did get a glimpse of the new Emami girl.

Madhuri Dixit walked on to the sets, togged up in a maroon outfit, hair falling around her face in waves, to face the media about her very first endorsement. "I thought they [Emami] had the right intentions. They are committed to what they are doing. That's why I chose to endorse their products," the Ek do teen girl replies, when asked why she chose Emami.

Madhuri has been working in tandem with the Research and Development department of Emami for over a year now. Mohan Goenka of Emami says, "We opened a special R&D department in Mumbai for the team to work with Madhuri. She has been sharing her experiences with the department to help develop a product to match market requirement."

"Beauty is my business and I have given my creative inputs to the Emami research team. I used their products: Some were good, some weren't. All of them are herbal, so there's no question of them harming your skin," says Madhuri.

With her new responsibility, one wonders how she manages to juggle her time as actress and wife: "It isn't difficult. It's fun trying to juggle time between home, acting and now modelling."

Madhuri will endorse a line of beauty care products called Beauty Secrets by Madhuri Dixit. The line includes five products, three shampoos, a soap, skin cream and hair oil. Besides the advertisement commericals, Madhuri will also shoot a calendar that will be brought out soon. Incidentally, the commercial is said to have cost Emami approximately Rs 40 million.

Goenka is confident that this celebrity endorsement will be a shot in Emami's arm: "I predict a sharp increase in sales. Madhuri endorsing our product will definitely be of great help to us." Goenka adds that Emami has made a long term commitment to Madhuri Dixit.