Madhuri Dixit

For a stretch of the late eighties and nineties, Madhuri Dixit was simply the biggest female star in India, to the point that the phrase “Dhak Dhak girl”, after her number in Beta, became national shorthand. Her real weapon was dance: trained in kathak, she could turn a song sequence into the reason a film existed.

Tezaab made her, Hum Aapke Hain Koun made her a household fixture, and Dil To Pagal Hai and Devdas kept her at the summit even as a new generation arrived. Then she stepped away, married, moved to America, and returned years later on her own terms, choosing character parts like Dedh Ishqiya over another run at leading-lady status.

She sits on talent-show judging panels now and remains an object of real affection whenever she appears in public. The paparazzi treat a Madhuri sighting as a visit from an era, and frankly, so do we.

Everything below is from our own cameras.

More on Madhuri Dixit: en.wikipedia.org