The upcoming Netflix film Maa Behen brings Madhuri Dixit back to comedy after a long gap. The actor, who has done her fair share of work across every genre over a career spanning four decades, talks to Hindustan Times about the Suresh Triveni directorial, the delight of getting new material at this stage of her career, and the challenges of comedy.
On Maa Behen and getting fresh roles
When the trailer for Maa Behen was released last month in Mumbai, Ravi Kishan, who has a supporting role in the film, said, “This is an avatar Madhuri has never been seen in.” Ask her about the joy of getting new and different roles so deep in her career, and the actor has a succinct response. “It feels amazing! You immediately say yes.”
Madhuri says one of the reasons Maa Behen spoke to her was the narration given to her by director Suresh Triveni. “As a director, he is very dangerous,” she says with a laugh, “When he performs, he is very amazing. Then you think, ‘That’s the bar. You have to match up or do better’. I enjoyed the narration so much that I told him, ‘Ek aur narration lein kya’. I saw the whole movie in my mind. I hadn’t done a comedy in a long time. In between, I had done more dramatic and serious roles. It’s like a breath of fresh air of how chaotic everything is. And the characters are very real, very relatable.”
‘Keeping comedy fresh is tough’
Director Suresh Triveni says that comedy sets are ‘kinder’ to actors because he does not have to ask them to maintain their intensity throughout a long shoot day, but Madhuri says there is a con too. “Intensity you can keep throughout, but the freshness – doing the same thing each time and keeping it fresh – is very difficult. The intensity you can carry throughout the day. You are angry or sad, but in this (comedy), it has to look like it’s happening for the first time. That is difficult,” says the actor.
Madhuri is not new to comedy. She had shown her flair for the genre early in her career in films like Tezaab, Raja, and Dil – the so-called 90s’ masala films. “Those films used to have everything. There is comedy, romance, full masala. It wasn’t that we didn’t get to do it (comedy), but I hadn’t done a comedy in between. This was something I could sink my teeth into,” says the 59-year-old.
Maa Behen stars Madhuri alongside Triptii Dimri, Dharna Durga, and Ravi Kishan. The film releases on Netflix on June 4.