My kids tease me for my roles in Hindi films: Dixit.
By Dileep Thekkethil
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Madhuri Dixit, one of the most popular Bollywood actresses and dancer, recently attended a “Talk at Google” session along her husband and cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr Sriram Nene, where the couple explained the vision of their free online dance tutorial venture ‘Dance with Madhuri’.
Madhuri married Dr. Nene in 1999 after which she moved to the US, bidding a temporary goodbye to the Bollywood industry.
When asked what difference she felt moving to the US, Madhuri said “It gave me a sense of freedom because if I go shopping in Mumbai there will be ten people around and I was never alone. But here (in the US) when I first went out for shopping my heart was thumping as if I was going to do something that I have never done before.”
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During the talk show which had SVP, Search, Google, Amit Singhal as the host, the actress stressed the importance of taking into account the real interest of kids rather than imposing on them the fancies of parents.
She said her web site ‘Dance with Madhuri’ is the best platform for kids to find their real passion because it has many different forms of dancing styles out of which kids can choose the one that really interests them.
Dr. Nene, who was brought up in the US, said his real passion was in entrepreneurship but had to become a doctor due to pressure from his parents.
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“I couldn’t scale any matter how hard I worked. I had three to five hundred patients per year, but the issue with me was there were 7 billion people in the planet. So the journey that I took was if I made use of my original skills combined with her (Madhuri’s) media talent to change the way people think about medicine,” he said.
Madhuri and Nene came back to India in 2011 and started the ‘Dance with Madhuri’ program with the belief that people could learn dance remotely and this would build a global village for culture where everyone is equal. The couple had recently launched a mobile app version of ‘Dance with Madhuri’.
Madhuri, when asked how judgmental her kids are while watching her movies said, “I remember my kids were watching ‘Koyla’ when I was just about to leave my home. When I came back, I found a note stuck on one of my kid’s computers. It said: ‘Mom, why were you acting so funny in Koyla?’”
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While talking about her transformation from a Bollywood diva to a homemaker and a mother, Madhuri said, “In India, you are so dependent on your maidservants. You can leave everything on them, but in the USA, you have to cook, clean up, buy groceries, everything on your own.”
Madhuri also revealed that the film ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ is her favorite movie.
Dr. Nene also shared an instance during a star-studded party when he was asked to dance with Madhuri. After getting praised for his dance moves, he went on to take a session through Dance with Madhuri called ‘Dance for non-dancers’.
When asked who is her favourite dancer in Bollywood Madhuri said, “If you consider everything, the personality and dance and all, I think it’s Hrithik Roshan. He mesmerises when he dances. “
Dr. Nene had a different choice he said “I like Prabhudheva. He is so fluid. He doesn’t have bones”. He also obliged to the audience request and sang one of Madhuri’s evergreen songs ‘Ek Do Teen’.
Last but not least, Amit Singhal wanted Madhuri to confide her cannot-live-without gadget to which she replied: “My iPhone”.
The oops! moment was neatly handled by her husband when he took out his Android phone and said it ran ‘Dance with Madhuri’ app more lucidly then in her iPhone.