Padma Shree Madhuri Dixit
Date: Sunday, 04-May-2008
She
will be coming to receive it on May
10 from Florida with husband Dr
Sriram Nene in tow. The couple's
children won't accompany them. Which
is a pity, because May 15 is
Madhuri's birthday, and there will
be a dinner with family and close
friends. Madhuri is delighted with
this double celebration. Talking to
BT from Florida, where she has
settled down, she said excitedly,
"Everyone works hard and to be
acknowledged for it is a huge thing.
I am honored. As a young girl, I
thought the Padma Shri was accorded
only to scientists. Awards are
important, but I never aspired for
any, I just put my best foot
forward."
Madhuri's comeback film last
November, Aaja Nachle, bombed at the
box office, but that did nothing to
dent her image in Bollywood or
diminish her considerable fan
following. In fact M F Husain, her
greatest admirer, while expressing
disappointment over the film blamed
its failure on
filmmaker Yash Chopra. Madhuri
defended the film, "Husain saab must
have expected more from it, but I
don't believe in blame games.
Everyone worked hard on the film and
I had fun doing it. You win some and
lose some. Filmmaking is
unpredictable business." Was it true
that the Barjatyas are planning a
sequel to that delightful
entertainer, Hum Aapke
Hai Kaun, in which Madhuri and
Salman Khan will be shown 15 years
older? "If the news is true, this
too will be so much fun," replied
the Padma Shri actress
enthusiastically.
You win some, you lose some {Monday, 12-May-2008}
Extract from MumbaiMirror.com
Madhuri Dixit was awarded the Padma Shri on May 10, for her contribution to Indian cinema. She flew down from Florida to New Delhi with her husband Sri Ram Nene, to receive the Award. Coping with the capital's sweltering heat Madhuri tells us that the thrill of being honored by her country made-up for the heat and dust in Delhi. Over to Madhuri
- How does it feel to be awarded one of the most prestigious Awards?
It's wonderful that people still think of me in my home country even though I don't live here any more - it makes feel very wanted. It feels wonderful to have your work honored. The Padma Shri is a culmination of all my sincere and hard work.
- Do your children share your excitement?
The younger one is only three years old - too young to understand. But my five-year-old son kept asking me why I was getting this award. I told him it was because I did movies in India for many years. 'You did movies. Why? Why do people call you Dixit?' he asked me.
He's finally getting to know that his mom, who cooks meals packs off the kids and puts them to sleep, had a life beyond the home and kids before marriage. My kids are in the US with my husband's mom and my parents... I guess they are lucky to have three sets of parents. My husband is here with me to share this moment.
- So do you ever miss Bollywood?
It's hard to bridge the gap between the life I now have in the US and Bollywood. But I am used to a life with my husband and kids. And to leave them behind in the US to work in Mumbai is tough. Although our parents take really good care of them, Ram and I still worry about what's happening back home when we're in India.
- Aaja Nachle didn't get the desired response, were you shattered?
I did my part sincerely. And so did the whole team. I've worked in this field long enough to know that you win some and you lose some. Sometimes you may feel that everything is going right but the end-product may fall apart.
- So are you doing something to rectify your fans' sense of disappointment?
Is that your way of asking if I'm doing another movie? Next time I'll ask my fans what they want me to do on screen. The fact that I played a role specially written for an actress my age, was a triumph...I'm not in India to sign another movie...not this time. I'm in Delhi just to receive the Padma Shri.
Will you stay back in Mumbai to catch
up with family, friends and work?
I do have a life beyond movies...I attended the premiere of Mithunda's son Mimoh's
film, last week. I remember Mimoh as a child hiding behind his mom Yogeeta Bali
and trying to look at me.
- You have still maintained the 'Madhuri aura' -
undiminished by time, marriage, motherhood and the failed comeback vehicle.
I never thought of, what you call, 'an aura'. I dreamt of being a wife and a
mother almost all my life.
- Thank God, you did at the right time...
What's the right time? If you mean the right time to have kids, then let me tell
you, a 63-year-old women delivered twins recently. Nothing is impossible at any
age anymore. I always knew that when I met the right person, I wouldn't think
twice about giving up my career. And that's exactly what I did.
Madhuri Padma Shri Dixit
T
he original dhak dhak girl of Hindi film industry, Madhuri Dixit, has been honored with the Padma Shri Award. The charming lady, who is in Delhi, says, "it's a wonderful feeling that your years of hard work has culminated into such a prestigious Award. It's like an icing on the cake. I am really honored."
As we ask Madhuri whether she feels that it's
little late for her to achieve the award, she smilingly replies, "Awards are
important, but I never aspired for any. I just put my best foot forward. I've
enjoyed working and dancing in front of the camera. I've always loved the art".
That evening seems graced with the presence of Madhuri with her husband Dr.
Sriram Nene and her father-in-law. Controlling little with the excitement of the
award, Madhuri adds further, "I am here without my children. My mother-in-law
and my parents are in Denver looking after my children. We were all so excited
when they announced that I was chosen for the award. I thought the Padma Shri
was accorded only for scientists. It was only when I was flooded with calls and
e-mails I realized how important it was for me in life."
Madhuri still looks lost with her scene of receiving the award from the first
Indian Woman President Pratibha Patil. Madhuri explains, "It's a great feeling.
She is the first Lady of the country and I am receiving an award from her. It
brings to mind all the women empowerment that we talk about. It's an added
Prestige here in India now. I am delighted."
Madhuri will be celebrating her birthday on the 15th of May. As asked if she has
planned anything for the day, she says, "I am planning to go back since my
children are there. I have not decided how we are going to celebrate it. Maybe
we will have dinner with family and friends. I have no plan right now."
Where Madhuri is present the talk is of course incomplete without few chatty
words about films. The charismatic beauty smiles back and says, "I have no plans
of doing any films. I have got a lot of offers but I have not heard any script.
I haven't decided yet."
- Sampurn
Padmashri Madhuri Dixit Nene! {10-May-2008}
Extract from TIMESNOW.tv
It was a moment of glory for Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit as she received the prestigious Padma Shri award today (May 10) from President Pratibha Patil for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.
The actor who is in the country with her husband Dr. Shriram Nene especially to receive the award is exceedingly happy with this recognition.
"It is a great honour. I am elated," said Padma Shri Madhuri Dixit.
Noted
industrialist Ratan Tata, NRI steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, Metroman E Sreedharan
and chess wizard Viswanathan Anand were also among the recipients of the Padma
awards.
Former bureaucrat PN Dhar, former Chief Justice of India AS Anand and
Nobel-prize winning environmentalist RK Pachauri also received the prestigious
Padma Vibhushan at a glittering function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Adding glamour to the event were Hollywood director Manoj Night Shyamalan,
Punjabi folk singer Hans Raj Hans, versatile actor Tom Alter and footballer
Baichung Bhutia, who received Padma Shri awards.
Melody queen P Susheela and noted economists Lord Meghnad Desai, Kaushik Basu
and Padma Desai also received the Padma Bhushan award.
The best round of applause was reserved for Tata, who was honoured with the
Padma Vibhushan, Bhutia, Shyamalan and Dixit, who received the Padma Shri.
Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams did not turn up to receive the Padam
Bhushan while respected Russian diplomat Yuli Mikhailovich Vorontsov's daughter
received the award conferred on him posthumously.
Ignoring the clamour for Bharat Ratna triggered by BJP leader LK Advani's letter
to the Prime Minister proposing Atal Bihari Vajpayee's name, the government
decided against naming anyone for the award for the seventh consecutive year
this time.
Bharat Ratna was last given in 2001 to Lata Mangeshkar and Ustad Bismillah Khan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and several union
ministers attended the function.
Among the Padma Bhushan recipients were veena exponent Ustad Asad Ali Khan,
industrialist Baba Neelkanth Kalyani, tribal leader Mian Bashir Ahmed, Inderjit
Kaur, Jasdev Singh, Kantipudi Padmanabhaiah, Nirmal Kumar Ganguly, Suresh Kumar
Neotia, Sushil Kumar Saxena, Viswanathan Ramachandran and Ravindra Kelekar.
Those who received Padma Shri included Aheibam Jayant Kumar Singh, Amitabh
Mattoo, Barkha Dutt, Bholabhai Patel, Cannigaiper Uthamaroyan Velmurugendran,
Pandit Gokulotsav Maharaj, Heisnam Sabitri, Indu Bushan Sinha, Jawahar Wattal,
KS Nishar Ahmed and Kaleem Ullah Khan.
French national Colette Mathur and Russian theatre personality Gennadi
Mikhailovich Pechnikov also received the honour.
Karuna Mary Braganza, Kasturi Lal Chopra, Kekoo M Gandhy, Kutikuppala Surya Rao,
Madan Mohan Sabharwal, Mohan Chandra Pant, Moozhikkulam Kochukuttan Chakkyar,
Rakesh Kumar Jain, Sant Singh Virmani, Sheela Barthakur, Sirkazhi G Siva
Chidambaram, Surjya Kanta Hazarika, Vellur Ramachandra Gowrishankar, Yella
Venkateswara Rao, Mohammed Yusuf Taing also received the Padma Shri.
(With inputs from PTI)
Videos of the Event