On Sit With Hitlist, Madhuri Dixit said Mrs Deshpande appealed for its layered character and team, not shock value. She spoke about breaking career rules, embracing versatile roles, reinvention, and how exposure to art and commercial cinema shaped her choices
Madhuri Dixit
The OG Dhak Dhak girl and evergreen diva of Indian cinema, Madhuri Dixit, sat down for an exclusive conversation on mid-day’s Sit With Hitlist, opening up about her fearless choices, evolving craft, and why she continues to surprise audiences even decades into her career.
When asked if the headline-grabbing idea of her playing a serial killer in Mrs Deshpande was what drew her to the show, Madhuri was quick to clarify. “No, I mean, that was not the reason why,” she said candidly. Laughing at the thought of sensational headlines, she added, “It could have been. It’s exciting enough, right? She’s a killer, and she has a killer smile, and she kills with a smile.”
Madhuri Dixit on what convinced her to do Mrs Deshpande
What truly convinced her, however, was the depth of the character and the team behind the project. “I love the character. And also the fact that there was Nagesh Kukunoor, who’s the director, and Applause, who’s the producer. They came to me with the script. When they said it’s a serial killer, I’m like, why me?” she recalled. “But after I heard the whole script, I understood their vision. I thought this was something very out of the box for me to play.”
Madhuri also highlighted how rare such roles are for women. “I don’t think anybody has ever played a woman like a serial killer on the screen,” she said, adding that it wasn’t just the label that intrigued her. “There’s the multilayered character. She’s so calm, so composed, and yet she can make people feel very uncomfortable with the silences. Those things were very attractive about the character.”
Madhuri Dixit reflects on doing versatile as well as supporting roles in her career
Reflecting on her long journey, the actress spoke about breaking myths that once dictated an actor’s career. “The funny thing is, when you say you cannot do this or that, I’ve done everything before I became popular,” she said. “I did play the sister to the lead actress. That’s the only thing I didn’t play,” she joked, before adding that she even worked on a TV pilot early on.
For Madhuri, the idea that certain roles could end a career was always flawed. “There are no set rules. Rules can be broken,” she asserted. “You don’t have to say this is written in stone and it’s not going to change.” Citing examples, she pointed out how even Shah Rukh Khan began with television and later played unconventional roles. “That’s not what heroes used to do back then, right? So rules are made to be broken.”
She stressed that constant reinvention is key. “What’s very important is that you have to keep working, keep doing different roles,” she said. Even at the height of her commercial success after Tezaab, Madhuri balanced mainstream cinema with experimental projects, such as Mrityudand, Aparna, and Dharavi.
Her upbringing played a major role in shaping that mindset. “I was brought up on both influences—art cinema and commercial cinema,” she shared, recalling how her father would watch films with the best reviews. “I’ve seen a lot of Shabana ji’s movies, the parallel cinema of the ’80s. Saturdays and Sundays were movie weekends at home.”
That rich cinematic exposure, Madhuri believes, gave her the confidence to take risks, something she continues to do, proving that even an icon can continue to evolve.
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