Madhuri Dixit

Madhuri Dixit - born Madhuri Shankar Dixit on May 15, 1967 is an award-winning Indian Bollywood actress. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, she dominated Hindi cinema as a leading actress and an accomplished dancer. Appearing in numerous commercial successes and delivering a myriad of critically-acclaimed performances, Dixit has established herself as one of the most respected and prominent female actors in Bollywood. In 2008, she was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, by the Government of India.

Film career
Madhuri Dixit made her acting debut in Abodh (1984). After a few minor and supporting roles, she landed the lead female role in Tezaab (1988), which shot her to stardom. She then went on to star in the hit films such as Ram Lakhan (1989), Parinda (1989), Tridev (1989), Kishen Kanhaiya (1990), Dil (1990), Saajan (1991), Beta (1992), Khalnayak (1993), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun! (1994), and Raja (1995).

After a year of little success, she appeared as Pooja in the Yash Chopra blockbuster Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), for which she won her fourth Filmfare Best Actress Award. In the same year, Dixit starred in Prakash Jha's critically acclaimed Mrityudand. The film straddled the boundary between an art and a commercial film. It won the Best Feature Film at the Cinema Tout Ecran in Geneva, the Bangkok Film Festival and the Sansui Awards (Critics' Choice). Her performance in the film also landed her Best Actress awards at the Star Screen Awards and Sansui Awards.

Her dance sequences, accompanying many famous Bollywood songs such as Ek Do Teen (from Tezaab), Bada Dukh Diya (from Ram Lakhan), Dhak Dhak (from Beta), Channe Ke Khet Mein (from Anjaam), Choli Ke Peechhe (from Khalnayak), Akhiyan Milaun (from Raja), Piya Ghar Aya (from Yaarana), Key Sera (from Pukar), Maar Daala (from Devdas), along with many others, have received abundant critical acclaim.

In 2002, she starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas with Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. Her performance was applauded and earned her a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. The film attracted worldwide attention and was featured at the Cannes Film Festival.

The following year a film named after her, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon!, was released in which a woman (played by Antara Mali) aspires to become the new Madhuri Dixit by trying her luck in the Bollywood industry.

On February 25, 2006 she performed on stage for the first time in six years at the Filmfare Awards to music from her last movie Devdas. Her performance was choreographed by Saroj Khan.

Madhuri Dixit has been the muse for the famous Indian painter M.F. Hussain who considers her the epitome of womanhood. Hence he made a film named Gaja Gamini (2000) in which Madhuri acted. The film was intended as a tribute to Ms. Dixit herself. In this film she can be seen portraying various forms and manifestations of womanhood including the muse of Kalidasa, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, a rebel and a musical euphoria etc.

On December 7, 2006, Dixit returned to Mumbai along with her husband and sons to start filming for Aaja Nachle (2007). The film released in November 2007 and despite the critics panning it, Dixit's performance was well received, with the New York Times commenting about her that "she's still got it".

On Women's International Day in 2007, Dixit topped Rediff's list of the Best Bollywood Actresses Ever.

Personal life
Madhuri Dixit is a native of Mumbai, India. She was born Madhuri Shankar Dixit to Shankar and Snehlata Dixit, of a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin family. Dixit attended Parle College and wanted to be a micro-biologist. She is trained as a Kathak dancer, in the Indian classical tradition.

She married an Indian-American, Dr. Sriram Madhav Nene, in 1999. A UCLA-trained cardiovascular surgeon who practices in Denver, Nene is also from a Marathi Konkanastha Brahmin family. She has two sons, Arin (born in March 2003 in Colorado) and Ryan (born on March 8, 2005 in Colorado).

She has two elder sisters, Rupa and Bharati, and an elder brother, Ajit. Madhuri, Dr. Nene and their two children live in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Awards and nominations
Filmfare Awards
Won
1990: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Dil.
1992: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Beta
1994: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Hum Aapke Hain Kaun
1997: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Dil To Pagal Hai
2002: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Devdas
Nominated
1988: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Tezaab
1989: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Prem Pratigya
1991: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Saajan
1993: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Khalnayak
1995: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Raja
1995: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Yaraana
1997: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Mrityudand
2000: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Pukar
2001: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Lajja
2008: Filmfare Best Actress Award for Aaja Nachle

Star Screen Awards
Won
1994: Star Screen Award Best Actress for Hum Aapke Hain Kaun!
1995: Star Screen Award Best Actress for Raja
1997: Star Screen Award Best Actress for Mrityudand
2002: Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress for Devdas
Nominated
2000: Star Screen Award Best Actress for Pukar
2003: Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress for Devdas

Zee Cine Awards
Won
1998: Zee Cine Award for Best Actor - Female for Dil To Pagal Hai
2002: Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Female for Lajja
Nominated
2000: Zee Cine Award for Best Actor - Female for Pukar
2003: Zee Cine Award for Best Actor - Female for Devdas

IIFA Awards
Nominated
2000: IIFA Best Actress Award for Pukar

Stardust Awards
Nominated
2008: Stardust Star of the Year Award - Female for Aaja Nachle

Honours and recognitions
1997: "Kalabhinetri" award by the Government of Andhra Pradesh
2001: National Citizen's Award
2007: "Bollywood's Best Actress Ever"
2008: Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India
2008: Honored and Tributed at IFFLA Indian Film Festivel of Los Angeles