Power Diva: Madhuri Dixit-Nene

Still the much-admired lady, Madhuri Dixit-Nene has no reason to prove her potential as an actress. Yet, it is her ability and courage to take risks with the changing times that sets her apart from her generation of actors. From doing an item number in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, to playing the role of a diva in Dedh Ishqiya’s implied bisexual romance to portraying Rajjo in Gulaab Gang for which she got trained in rare martial arts, La Dixit rules the roost. The Padma Shri winner’s energy and smile on the show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa is infectious. In February this year, she launched an online dance academy that allows dance enthusiasts to enroll and learn dance from anywhere.

Known for: Her committed and disciplined attitude. Her reputation precedes her. ‘I love my work with passion and once you have the passion, the discipline, the talent, I think you’ll go a long way.’

On being a diva: ‘I have never thought of myself as a diva. A diva, to me, is someone who is very talented…and also very temperamental – a person who has power and does not hesitate to use it. I am nothing like that. I am a very simple person.’

On competition: ‘If you put any two girls from today’s times in a movie together, of course it’s going to create curiosity. Calling them rivals is not right – they are contemporaries.’

On her continued popularity: ‘I would love to make statements like ‘Hey, I get 10 scripts to read every day and I loved so and so script but dates didn’t allow me to include them in my schedule’. However, I would rather my work speak for itself.’