Madhuri speaking...
"For me dancing is not just moving your arms and legs but basically it's a very spiritual experience. It's part of me and a second nature to me. You can say it is in my blood."
"I think home is where I am happiest. Home is when I am with my husband. Home is when I am with my little baby. That ´s home to me. But home is also where my parents are, home is also where I have grown up.... Home is also with millions of fans who love me for no reason."
"I don't understand the difference between being a star and being an actress. If you are a good actress, you can also be a star but it does not work the other way round. You must be able to deliver the goods. Gone are the days of parallel cinema when actresses like Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil proved to the world that a good actress need not necessarily be a good star. Where is the parallel cinema today? These debates arise mainly because with stardom, there is this tendency to get carried away by one's own glamour, one's fame, and one’s success. The star then begins to play to the gallery, to manipulate the audience. It might work for some time but in the long run, it can be dangerous and self-destructive."
"It's so ironical. When you finally achieve recognition, you hide behind dark glasses."
"First they said I had my mouth and teeth corrected. Then it was said I had a nose job. Seriously I'm past caring."
"Good films flop, atrocious films do well. Uncertainty is the only certainty in this business."
"The tendency in the media is to portray everyone in the film industry as sex-starved creatures. Please spare us."
"My family gives me enough security and warmth. I don’t have to look for it outside! After achieving so much success and fame I’m apprehensive about people’s motives. I want to be sure that people want to be friends with me and not my fame!"
"I have never bothered to find out who the other heroine is in my film at any stage of my career. Competition doesn’t matter because I give my best to all my shots anyway."
"I feel I am capable of much more. I guess every artiste feels that way. If you are satisfied, you begin to stagnate"
"I have to constantly do things that will help me stay in touch with my culture. I taught my sons to speak Marathi before they learned other languages."
"I find it funny to praise myself, but I think I am beautiful, just like Chandramukhi."
"When Hussainji narrated the script to me, I couldn´t understand it. And I told him so. So, he worked out a storyboard and then I could visualite the whole film. You know the film is like a painting on celluloid." (on Gaja Gamini)
"All that pativrata bit I did in the movies was a cliche. Today, when I warm up the food or lay the table, I catch myself smiling."
"Depend on yourself and you will never be let down."
"As a teenager I was a fairly good student. But more involved in extracurricular activities, like, dancing and singing. The one thing I have always been very astute about are my aims and goals in life. I never succumbed to peer pressure, I never followed the trends which were the in thing. I guess you could say, that I was not the average confused teenager. I loved acting in plays, but dancing was my passion. I was always this dreamy, head in the clouds teenager. I remember sitting up in my room and imagining myself performing on stage. But like all teens, I also did silly things for the heck of it. I once, went and got myself this fabulous unruly haircut because I wanted to be a pop singer. I attended lectures at Parle college, which was this really Maharashtrian college. I remember belting out this great English number on the college day, it was really dreamy. I dreamt a lot and I did a lot too. Life has been very kind to me. Things which were unfair always made me unhappy, but that didn't stop me from playing the occasional prank. The funny part was that, my teachers never could believe that I'd be the one playing mischief, even if I owned up. One such incident sticks out clearly in my mind. A group of us got into this giggling fit and the teacher asked us to stand up. I stood up too, sheepishly, because I'd been laughing too but she said `not you' you sit down! This made my friends mad and they said `she'd been giggling too'. The teacher replied, `keep quiet don't tell me what she was doing'. I got away with punishment, most of the time."
"My family meant a lot to me, I've always been protected by my brothers, sisters and parents. They pampered me to some extent but not to an extent where I was spoilt."
"My appeal is not visual, it´s not physical, it´s not in my form. It´s a feeling, a thought that comes from deep within me. My sex appeal is subtle."
"Acting is a bit like cycling. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you just peddle on."
"My biggest high comes when I discover that how I come across on screen tallies exactly with how I had mentally visualized it. If there is a gap between my visualization and how I actually come across, I feel frustrated with myself. This has made me my own worst critic. Being your own critic helps you to keep growing. Failing this, you might find yourself getting stagnant within the mainstream."
"Acting is about passion. You have to be passionate and single-minded about it. It can devour you, you must find ownership."
“I discovered love after marriage. I feel liberated. Earlier I was so cautious about what I said and where I went. But Ram is the exact opposite of me. He can make friends anywhere. Earlier I was very intimidated, I’d never get the right words to express myself. Ram is so vocal that even I have begun to articulate my thoughts better, I speak more freely now. In the US, I can just take the car and drive to any mall and pick up stuff. I could never dream of doing it while I was in India.”
"You remember, I barely had a fashion sense. Like I said, I’ve opened up much more these days. I’ve become easy with myself and people around me. And I have to credit Ram for all the positive changes in me. Even today, when I leave for a shoot or shopping in some strange ill-fitting kurta, Ram will sweetly say, ‘Wear something better, you’re a star, dress up na.’”
“It kills me to be away from them (the children) especially when I’m shooting. I feel disoriented and so do they. I tell you, they have me wrapped around their little fingers. Just the other day Arin got me a flower from school and cooed, ‘I love you mommy.’ My heart melted.”
"A lot of transition has taken place in me... I have learnt a lot and I have always tried to better myself. Now when I see myself, I realise that I actually could manage to get what I wanted, a home, a hubby and lots of love."
"It’s motherhood and a strong marriage that make me a complete woman."
"The greatest change in today movie making that I see is sync-sound. I don’t have to dub for the movie again. It’s all on location. And I remember how we used to cry earlier in dubbing studios — why can’t we do this in one go? Sometimes it used to get very difficult to recreate the magic that you have already shot for."
"I had a wonderful time seeing my kids grow up. Seeing them speak their first words, take their first steps...I cannot tell you how I treasure these years. Films will come, films will go. Stardom will be there, stardom will not be there. Your fans will be there, your fans will not be there but my legacy is going to be my sons."
"I have never been a part of the numbers game. We are not racing horses, who should be numbered. Either the work you do is good or bad."
"I have come back not because I missed being written about or media arc lights...it's secondary. I missed my craft!"
''Shah Rukh Khan is full of energy and he is someone you can talk to on any topic in the world as he has a lot to say and he knows about a lot of stuff. He is not just a one-sided kind of personality, he is very rounded. He knows about everything; from computers to anything you have. He is very intelligent and has a lot of ideas, and I like the way he comes up with all these ideas and that he is never sitting still.''
''He (Aamir Khan) is a very good actor and is always energetic. Aamir is slightly different from others; he takes his time and wants to make everything sure. He is very methodic and likes to do things in his own way. So that makes him very different.''
''I have worked with Salman and he is also a good actor. You never know with him, when he is on the sets, whether he is paying attention to what you are doing, but he just carries the roles so well. When it comes to the work, he knows what he is doing.''
"Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) is a fantastic human being. He´s very nice at heart and, contrary to what people think, he has a good sense of humour. He´s the only guy, who can keep me in splits. He doesn´t play games, he is a very straight-forward."
"I was never antisocial. With time you change. I'm more relaxed maybe. As for 'Devdas', there were just the three of us. In fact, I only had Shah Rukh for company. But in 'Aaja Nachle' there were so many actors shooting with me all the time. Such bright, inquisitive and talkative youngsters!"
"Every time I come to Mumbai I find the city more westernised. There's no harm in that. But why not imbibe the best of foreign influences without losing our culture and tradition? Let's not forget who we are. In the US we see families more Indian than in India. But there's hope yet."
"What is the right time? If you mean the right time to have kids then let me remind you a 63-year-old woman had twins. Nothing is impossible at any age any more. As for me, I had always said if I meet the right person I wouldn't think twice about giving up my career. And that's exactly what I did. I never planned anything in life."
"My background in science has imposed a lot of discipline in me. This discipline helps me in sustaining objectivity. It is important not to fall in love with the image one has created for the world out there. The real person and the image that that real person has created are two very different things and no actor should lose track of this essential dichotomy. Objectivity is like the third eye that keeps watching you all the time, correcting you when you falter, holding you when you might fall."
"It is wonderful to know that people still think about me in my home country, although I don't live here any more. That they still want me back, it makes me feel very wanted."
"I do have a life beyond movies."
"If someone has been bad to me, I believe in being good to that person. It´s my way of getting back. Because that person is going to feel guilty about it."
"Ryan swings his hips very well so whenever he´s dancing I tell him: "Shake your bum, shake your bum." When he saw the promos of Aaja Nachle, he started telling me: "Mom, now you shake your bum."
"When I reported for the shooting of Koyla, Shah Rukh Khan kept pulling my leg, saying that he was very unhappy that I hadn't invited him for my wedding. So I told him that the next time I'm married off... which means the next time I visit America, I'd surely invite him. Frankly, this marriage talk is becoming a joke. Ha! The day I really get married no one will take me seriously. Actually, I think no one can accept the fact that a girl can be unmarried, unattached and happy. "
"I have to be tough here. I have to guard myself against the pain. Even if I have a Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde personality, I just hope that both of them are straightforward and nice. I can't imagine being evil. Also, I'm not interested in living up to the expectations and fantasies of 900 million human beings. If someone thinks I'm cold, fine. I'm not here to clarify anyone's assumptions about me."
"Maybe I'll kill someone but I'll never commit suicide."
"I adore the concept of being in love with one guy and spending the rest of my life with him."
"My fans don't know me at all. And yet they are willing to take up cudgels on my behalf. They even write letters to the editor if a nasty article appears about me."
"My first three takes are the best. My 4th,5th,6th are mechanical. My 7th is a very bad shot and from 8th onwards again I pick up from somewhere."
"The two things that will make me walkout of my marriage will be physical abuse and infidelity. I cannot tolerate any of this. If my husband even so much as raises his hand, I´ll raise the broom on him first and then walk out...."
"People land up on my doorstep bag and baggage, saying: Main aa gaya, mujhse shaadi karo." It´s hilarious"
"Having just completed the exhaustive rape scene in "Dil", I rested my back against the barn. Suddenly, a pair of hands gripped my neck from behind and I shrieked out in fright! Turning around I saw Aamir Khan grinning sadistically."
"Because I'm an actress people think I'm a brainless bubblehead with little on my head except the latest hair-style. I don't mean to say that I have an IQ of over 200 but I'm not mentally deficient either. It does irritate me when after talking to me, people say, "oh, but you're not so dumb after all!"
"I could have worn the worst clothes in some of my films, yet when I spoke my dialogues the audience knew it was sincere. Nowadays, heroines are to well made up, too catwalked. That can actually distract from the performance."
"We were discussing the script (Aaja Nachle) in Adi's office when Shah Rukh (Khan) walked in and it was almost as if I'd never gone away. He's someone who had called me when I had my kids. When I meet them, it's as if time has not passed."
"I think home is where I am happiest. Home is when I am with my husband. Home is when I am with my little baby. That ´s home to me. But home is also where my parents are, home is also where I have grown up.... Home is also with millions of fans who love me for no reason."
"I don't understand the difference between being a star and being an actress. If you are a good actress, you can also be a star but it does not work the other way round. You must be able to deliver the goods. Gone are the days of parallel cinema when actresses like Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil proved to the world that a good actress need not necessarily be a good star. Where is the parallel cinema today? These debates arise mainly because with stardom, there is this tendency to get carried away by one's own glamour, one's fame, and one’s success. The star then begins to play to the gallery, to manipulate the audience. It might work for some time but in the long run, it can be dangerous and self-destructive."
"It's so ironical. When you finally achieve recognition, you hide behind dark glasses."
"First they said I had my mouth and teeth corrected. Then it was said I had a nose job. Seriously I'm past caring."
"Good films flop, atrocious films do well. Uncertainty is the only certainty in this business."
"The tendency in the media is to portray everyone in the film industry as sex-starved creatures. Please spare us."
"My family gives me enough security and warmth. I don’t have to look for it outside! After achieving so much success and fame I’m apprehensive about people’s motives. I want to be sure that people want to be friends with me and not my fame!"
"I have never bothered to find out who the other heroine is in my film at any stage of my career. Competition doesn’t matter because I give my best to all my shots anyway."
"I feel I am capable of much more. I guess every artiste feels that way. If you are satisfied, you begin to stagnate"
"I have to constantly do things that will help me stay in touch with my culture. I taught my sons to speak Marathi before they learned other languages."
"I find it funny to praise myself, but I think I am beautiful, just like Chandramukhi."
"When Hussainji narrated the script to me, I couldn´t understand it. And I told him so. So, he worked out a storyboard and then I could visualite the whole film. You know the film is like a painting on celluloid." (on Gaja Gamini)
"All that pativrata bit I did in the movies was a cliche. Today, when I warm up the food or lay the table, I catch myself smiling."
"Depend on yourself and you will never be let down."
"As a teenager I was a fairly good student. But more involved in extracurricular activities, like, dancing and singing. The one thing I have always been very astute about are my aims and goals in life. I never succumbed to peer pressure, I never followed the trends which were the in thing. I guess you could say, that I was not the average confused teenager. I loved acting in plays, but dancing was my passion. I was always this dreamy, head in the clouds teenager. I remember sitting up in my room and imagining myself performing on stage. But like all teens, I also did silly things for the heck of it. I once, went and got myself this fabulous unruly haircut because I wanted to be a pop singer. I attended lectures at Parle college, which was this really Maharashtrian college. I remember belting out this great English number on the college day, it was really dreamy. I dreamt a lot and I did a lot too. Life has been very kind to me. Things which were unfair always made me unhappy, but that didn't stop me from playing the occasional prank. The funny part was that, my teachers never could believe that I'd be the one playing mischief, even if I owned up. One such incident sticks out clearly in my mind. A group of us got into this giggling fit and the teacher asked us to stand up. I stood up too, sheepishly, because I'd been laughing too but she said `not you' you sit down! This made my friends mad and they said `she'd been giggling too'. The teacher replied, `keep quiet don't tell me what she was doing'. I got away with punishment, most of the time."
"My family meant a lot to me, I've always been protected by my brothers, sisters and parents. They pampered me to some extent but not to an extent where I was spoilt."
"My appeal is not visual, it´s not physical, it´s not in my form. It´s a feeling, a thought that comes from deep within me. My sex appeal is subtle."
"Acting is a bit like cycling. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you just peddle on."
"My biggest high comes when I discover that how I come across on screen tallies exactly with how I had mentally visualized it. If there is a gap between my visualization and how I actually come across, I feel frustrated with myself. This has made me my own worst critic. Being your own critic helps you to keep growing. Failing this, you might find yourself getting stagnant within the mainstream."
"Acting is about passion. You have to be passionate and single-minded about it. It can devour you, you must find ownership."
“I discovered love after marriage. I feel liberated. Earlier I was so cautious about what I said and where I went. But Ram is the exact opposite of me. He can make friends anywhere. Earlier I was very intimidated, I’d never get the right words to express myself. Ram is so vocal that even I have begun to articulate my thoughts better, I speak more freely now. In the US, I can just take the car and drive to any mall and pick up stuff. I could never dream of doing it while I was in India.”
"You remember, I barely had a fashion sense. Like I said, I’ve opened up much more these days. I’ve become easy with myself and people around me. And I have to credit Ram for all the positive changes in me. Even today, when I leave for a shoot or shopping in some strange ill-fitting kurta, Ram will sweetly say, ‘Wear something better, you’re a star, dress up na.’”
“It kills me to be away from them (the children) especially when I’m shooting. I feel disoriented and so do they. I tell you, they have me wrapped around their little fingers. Just the other day Arin got me a flower from school and cooed, ‘I love you mommy.’ My heart melted.”
"A lot of transition has taken place in me... I have learnt a lot and I have always tried to better myself. Now when I see myself, I realise that I actually could manage to get what I wanted, a home, a hubby and lots of love."
"It’s motherhood and a strong marriage that make me a complete woman."
"The greatest change in today movie making that I see is sync-sound. I don’t have to dub for the movie again. It’s all on location. And I remember how we used to cry earlier in dubbing studios — why can’t we do this in one go? Sometimes it used to get very difficult to recreate the magic that you have already shot for."
"I had a wonderful time seeing my kids grow up. Seeing them speak their first words, take their first steps...I cannot tell you how I treasure these years. Films will come, films will go. Stardom will be there, stardom will not be there. Your fans will be there, your fans will not be there but my legacy is going to be my sons."
"I have never been a part of the numbers game. We are not racing horses, who should be numbered. Either the work you do is good or bad."
"I have come back not because I missed being written about or media arc lights...it's secondary. I missed my craft!"
''Shah Rukh Khan is full of energy and he is someone you can talk to on any topic in the world as he has a lot to say and he knows about a lot of stuff. He is not just a one-sided kind of personality, he is very rounded. He knows about everything; from computers to anything you have. He is very intelligent and has a lot of ideas, and I like the way he comes up with all these ideas and that he is never sitting still.''
''He (Aamir Khan) is a very good actor and is always energetic. Aamir is slightly different from others; he takes his time and wants to make everything sure. He is very methodic and likes to do things in his own way. So that makes him very different.''
''I have worked with Salman and he is also a good actor. You never know with him, when he is on the sets, whether he is paying attention to what you are doing, but he just carries the roles so well. When it comes to the work, he knows what he is doing.''
"Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) is a fantastic human being. He´s very nice at heart and, contrary to what people think, he has a good sense of humour. He´s the only guy, who can keep me in splits. He doesn´t play games, he is a very straight-forward."
"I was never antisocial. With time you change. I'm more relaxed maybe. As for 'Devdas', there were just the three of us. In fact, I only had Shah Rukh for company. But in 'Aaja Nachle' there were so many actors shooting with me all the time. Such bright, inquisitive and talkative youngsters!"
"Every time I come to Mumbai I find the city more westernised. There's no harm in that. But why not imbibe the best of foreign influences without losing our culture and tradition? Let's not forget who we are. In the US we see families more Indian than in India. But there's hope yet."
"What is the right time? If you mean the right time to have kids then let me remind you a 63-year-old woman had twins. Nothing is impossible at any age any more. As for me, I had always said if I meet the right person I wouldn't think twice about giving up my career. And that's exactly what I did. I never planned anything in life."
"My background in science has imposed a lot of discipline in me. This discipline helps me in sustaining objectivity. It is important not to fall in love with the image one has created for the world out there. The real person and the image that that real person has created are two very different things and no actor should lose track of this essential dichotomy. Objectivity is like the third eye that keeps watching you all the time, correcting you when you falter, holding you when you might fall."
"It is wonderful to know that people still think about me in my home country, although I don't live here any more. That they still want me back, it makes me feel very wanted."
"I do have a life beyond movies."
"If someone has been bad to me, I believe in being good to that person. It´s my way of getting back. Because that person is going to feel guilty about it."
"Ryan swings his hips very well so whenever he´s dancing I tell him: "Shake your bum, shake your bum." When he saw the promos of Aaja Nachle, he started telling me: "Mom, now you shake your bum."
"When I reported for the shooting of Koyla, Shah Rukh Khan kept pulling my leg, saying that he was very unhappy that I hadn't invited him for my wedding. So I told him that the next time I'm married off... which means the next time I visit America, I'd surely invite him. Frankly, this marriage talk is becoming a joke. Ha! The day I really get married no one will take me seriously. Actually, I think no one can accept the fact that a girl can be unmarried, unattached and happy. "
"I have to be tough here. I have to guard myself against the pain. Even if I have a Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde personality, I just hope that both of them are straightforward and nice. I can't imagine being evil. Also, I'm not interested in living up to the expectations and fantasies of 900 million human beings. If someone thinks I'm cold, fine. I'm not here to clarify anyone's assumptions about me."
"Maybe I'll kill someone but I'll never commit suicide."
"I adore the concept of being in love with one guy and spending the rest of my life with him."
"My fans don't know me at all. And yet they are willing to take up cudgels on my behalf. They even write letters to the editor if a nasty article appears about me."
"My first three takes are the best. My 4th,5th,6th are mechanical. My 7th is a very bad shot and from 8th onwards again I pick up from somewhere."
"The two things that will make me walkout of my marriage will be physical abuse and infidelity. I cannot tolerate any of this. If my husband even so much as raises his hand, I´ll raise the broom on him first and then walk out...."
"People land up on my doorstep bag and baggage, saying: Main aa gaya, mujhse shaadi karo." It´s hilarious"
"Having just completed the exhaustive rape scene in "Dil", I rested my back against the barn. Suddenly, a pair of hands gripped my neck from behind and I shrieked out in fright! Turning around I saw Aamir Khan grinning sadistically."
"Because I'm an actress people think I'm a brainless bubblehead with little on my head except the latest hair-style. I don't mean to say that I have an IQ of over 200 but I'm not mentally deficient either. It does irritate me when after talking to me, people say, "oh, but you're not so dumb after all!"
"I could have worn the worst clothes in some of my films, yet when I spoke my dialogues the audience knew it was sincere. Nowadays, heroines are to well made up, too catwalked. That can actually distract from the performance."
"We were discussing the script (Aaja Nachle) in Adi's office when Shah Rukh (Khan) walked in and it was almost as if I'd never gone away. He's someone who had called me when I had my kids. When I meet them, it's as if time has not passed."