Almost 40 years after 1984 film Tezaab made her a star, Madhuri Dixit is poised for a debut - the 54-year-old actress stars in the upcoming web-series The Fame Game alongside Sanjay Kapoor, her co-star from hit film Raja. The Fame Game stars Madhuri as a famous actress who vanishes with Sanjay as her hapless, or perhaps not so hapless, husband. Speaking to NDTV, Madhuri and Sanjay broke down how life on and off set has changed since they made Raja in 1995. Perhaps the most visible change is how films and shows are now promoted - publicity duty for each project involves a multimedia blitz.
"Earlier when we did films, we just shot the film and did a handful of press. We would promote the songs and do interviews with some magazines. Now we have to a plethora of things, magazines, websites, now it's all media-driven. It can get tiring but it's fun," Madhuri Dixit told NDTV.
What really stands out for Madhuri Dixit from then to now is the increased female presence on set. "I have to add when I started shooting, the only women on the film set would be me, my co-stars, and my hairdresser. That's it, no other women on the set. It used to be an all-male crew. Now when we go to a film set, assistant directors are women and so are some camera people. Now women are doing the writing, direction. Even The Fame Game is co-directed by a woman, Karishma Kohli has done some episodes along with Bejoy Nambiar. It's very heartening to see this change," she said.
Sanjay Kapoor shared some trivia about how technology has changed from the sets of Raja to now. "We have seen the old days and we are seeing new days. We have seen both worlds. I still remember it was a big deal when the first time a monitor came on the sets of a movie, till then we would depend on the director, who would depend on the cameraman. Life still went on back in the days, great films were made even then. When we started shooting for Raja there were no monitor or vanity vans, monitors came on film sets towards the end of shooting Raja," the actor told NDTV.
Madhuri Dixit approves of and has adapted to the new-age promotions and social media. "Things are different now, but I like it, I enjoy everything," she said.
That's not to say a dose of nostalgia isn't appreciated. Madhuri and Sanjay recently thrilled the Internet by dancing to Ankhiyaan Milaoon Kabhi from Raja at a party - "Back to the (90s," Sanjay captioned the clip:
Back to the 90s indeed - The Fame Game drops on Netflix on February 25.
