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Madhuri Dixit was known as the ‘jinxed actor’, says director Indra Kumar: ‘No one wanted her, bechaari ka flop impression tha’

In a recent interview, Indra Kumar talked about casting actor Madhuri Dixit in his films Beta and Dil, even when she was known as a 'jinxed actor'.

Film star Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in film BETA. Express archive photo

Veteran actor Madhuri Dixit is known as a superstar today, but her initial few years in the industry weren’t the smoothest. After back-to-back commercially unsuccessful films, she rose to fame with the action drama Tezaab in 1988, and established herself with Dil (1990), Beta (1992), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), and Dil To Pagal Hai (1997). In a conversation with Siddharth Kannan on his YouTube channel, Dil and Beta director Indra Kumar revealed that she was known as the ‘jinxed girl’ in the late 80s.

During the interview, Indra said that no one was casting Madhuri in their films at that point. He shared, “At that time, Aamir only had one hit film, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, while not even a single film starring Madhuri had worked. She was called ‘jinxed’. When I signed her for Dil with Aamir Khan, it was still fine, but when I signed her for Beta too, everyone said, ‘Paagal hogaya hai tu, iski koi film nahi chal rahi (Are you mad, none of her films are working)’.”

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He further added, “By that time, an interview had come out, saying, ‘Madhuri is a jinxed girl. Whichever film she is in, it turns out to be a flop.’ Still, I started working on both Dil and Beta in 1988 with Madhuri. I had confidence in her. There was something in my heart which said, ‘Yaar, isme baat hai, kuch hai isme (She has something in her)’.”

Express archive photo: Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in film BETA (Song: Koyal Si Teri Boli)

Indra also revealed that her ‘flop’ tag faded away after she delivered two smashing hits, Tezaab and Ram Lakhan. “After that, I was also lucky. I started the film in October, and Tezaab released in December in 1988, and in January 1989, Ram Lakhan released. Madhuri ka jo ‘bechaari flop‘ wala impression tha distributors ka vo change hogaya. My next schedule was directly after six months from October, when Madhuri came there, she was already a superstar. She was down to earth on her first day, after becoming a star, and she still is currently, there is no change,” he said.

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