At the peak of her career, Madhuri Dixit decided to quit films and choose a quiet life in the US with her husband Dr Shriram Nene. Nene was unaware of Madhuri’s massive stardom in India at the time of their marriage, and he hadn’t even watched any of her films. This is exactly why Madhuri decided to go ahead with their wedding, as Nene gave her a chance to step away from the limelight and live a life away from the cameras in the US. In an old interaction, Madhuri recalled the same and how, even after knowing about her stardom, he didn’t show much interest in watching her films.
‘He didn’t know how big a star I was’
Speaking on Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, when Madhuri was asked when Nene realised how big a star she was, she responded, “I think at our wedding reception. He was like oh my God, there are so many people and I told him that the queue doesn’t end there, it ends all the way there. He didn’t know how big a star I was. He just knew that she is a star in India. He had never experienced a full impact of that.”
Madhuri recalled that since Nene didn’t follow Hindi films – as he was born in London and raised in the United States – he didn’t recognise most of the celebrities who attended their wedding reception, except Amitabh Bachchan. She said, “The only star he recognised at our wedding reception was Mr Amitabh Bachchan because he had watched Amar Akbar Anthony as a kid.”
Madhuri on husband not being interested in watching her films
Even after knowing about Madhuri’s popularity, Nene wasn’t interested in watching her films. Speaking about the same, she said, “Me and his mom tried to show him one of my films and my song, and he was like, ‘Can’t we do something else? Let’s go out and do something’. He has not watched a lot of Bollywood films. He comes from a different sensibility, but he loved Devdas.”
Madhuri Dixit’s comeback
Madhuri Dixit moved to the US in 1999 after her marriage. She resided in Denver, Colorado, for over a decade and focused on her family life and raising her two sons. She tried making a comeback in films with 2007’s Aaja Nachle, but the film failed at the box office. She moved back to India with her husband in 2011. It was her performance in 2014’s Dedh Ishqiya that marked the beginning of her second innings in Hindi cinema. She was widely praised for her performance, and since then she has starred in projects like Kalank, Gulaab Gang, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. She is gearing up for the release of her next film Ma Behen, which also stars Triptii Dimri in a lead role.