Gloom was palpable in the posh offices of Mumbai’s gossip magazines on the evening of November 4. And even the most inventive, hard-hitting gossip writers wore crestfallen looks when Madhuri Dixit inflicted the bloodiest blow ever dealt by any superstar on them, when she made public her marriage to Dr Shriram Nene, a noted Los Angeles-based surgeon on October 17. The wedding which was performed according to simple Vedic rites took place before a select group that included her relatives and Rakesh Nath, her right hand man for twelve years.
On the whole, gossip-wise, Madhuri Dixit’s has been a singularly ‘uneventful’ career, her exploits on the screen and the gossip-mongers, notwithstanding. The closest anyone ever got to besmirching her fair name with the slightest slur of an ‘affair’ was when she teamed up with Sanjay Dutt in Subhash Ghai’s Khal-Nayak. But just when they claimed a breakthrough, Sanjay was sent to jail on the Mumbai blasts case. And the tall tales were snuffed out in the very inventing. Sanjay had nothing to say on the rumours. And all Madhuri would say was, the stories were invented on writing tables, “by minds that were fertile and damaging.”
Then all was quiet on the Madhuri front, though the actress went from success to more success, reaching dizzy heights with Saajan, Beta, Raja, Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Dil To Pagal Hai. Thereafter, a lull followed. The only exciting to happen to her, or so it seemed, was when the 84-year-old painter of international acclaim, MF Hussain became obsessed with her, painting her portraits by the dozens and holding entire exhibitions in her honour. He topped it all, turning filmmaker with Gaj Gamini, with Madhuri in the title role. The only other films she had on the floors then were Boney Kapoor’s multi-crore project Pukaar, a South film, Engineer, with Arvind Swamy as her leading man, KC Bokadia’s film co-starring Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan and Deepak Shivdasani’s Yeh Raaste Hai Pyar Ke. She had even stopped signing new films, setting off a spate of speculations. Curiosity intensified when Madhuri, for the first time, hosted two grand parties, one for every industry bigwig, and the other for the city’s press corps. Everyone did ask what the parties were meant to celebrate, but Madhuri simply smiled those questions away.
From then on, Madhuri spent most of her time in the USA. The gossip press hinted at some “hidden lover” on US shores. Other frustrated Madhuri-baiters found “deeper meanings” in her relationship with MF Hussain (who, incidentally, is much older than her father) and some even got her married to Rakesh Nath, her secretary and confidant.
The last she visited Los Angeles was in June 1999. Her brother, Ajit Dixit, a US-based computer scientist introduced her to his doctor friend, Dr Shriram Nene. Madhuri and Shriram took a liking for each other. They informed their parents about the friendship. The two families consulted pandits and studied the horoscopes before approving the match.
The marriage was kept a secret for weeks before it was made public on November 4. “I am feeling on top of the world. I have never been so happy in all my life. I had to get married some day. I will not give up films. I will complete all my films and travel between Los Angeles where I’ll eventually settle down and Mumbai whenever a tempting project beckons. Leaving Mumbai is not so easy, you know,” says Madhuri. The couple had a brief honeymoon in Hawaii before Madhuri returned to Mumbai. Dr Nene will come down to Mumbai in December for a short while.
But the gossip mongers are still not willing to give in. They are busy finding flaws in the Nenes’ marital bliss. Why the hurry after waiting so long, and why didn’t Dr Nene accompany her on her first visit to Mumbai as Mrs Nene, they ask.
Incidentally, a day after she announced her marriage, Madhuri won a tough competition (with Madhubala, Nutan and Nargis) to be named the “actress of the millennium.” May the Nenes be gloriously happy.
Then all was quiet on the Madhuri front, though the actress went from success to more success, reaching dizzy heights with Saajan, Beta, Raja, Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Dil To Pagal Hai. Thereafter, a lull followed. The only exciting to happen to her, or so it seemed, was when the 84-year-old painter of international acclaim, MF Hussain became obsessed with her, painting her portraits by the dozens and holding entire exhibitions in her honour. He topped it all, turning filmmaker with Gaj Gamini, with Madhuri in the title role. The only other films she had on the floors then were Boney Kapoor’s multi-crore project Pukaar, a South film, Engineer, with Arvind Swamy as her leading man, KC Bokadia’s film co-starring Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan and Deepak Shivdasani’s Yeh Raaste Hai Pyar Ke. She had even stopped signing new films, setting off a spate of speculations. Curiosity intensified when Madhuri, for the first time, hosted two grand parties, one for every industry bigwig, and the other for the city’s press corps. Everyone did ask what the parties were meant to celebrate, but Madhuri simply smiled those questions away.
From then on, Madhuri spent most of her time in the USA. The gossip press hinted at some “hidden lover” on US shores. Other frustrated Madhuri-baiters found “deeper meanings” in her relationship with MF Hussain (who, incidentally, is much older than her father) and some even got her married to Rakesh Nath, her secretary and confidant.
The last she visited Los Angeles was in June 1999. Her brother, Ajit Dixit, a US-based computer scientist introduced her to his doctor friend, Dr Shriram Nene. Madhuri and Shriram took a liking for each other. They informed their parents about the friendship. The two families consulted pandits and studied the horoscopes before approving the match.
The marriage was kept a secret for weeks before it was made public on November 4. “I am feeling on top of the world. I have never been so happy in all my life. I had to get married some day. I will not give up films. I will complete all my films and travel between Los Angeles where I’ll eventually settle down and Mumbai whenever a tempting project beckons. Leaving Mumbai is not so easy, you know,” says Madhuri. The couple had a brief honeymoon in Hawaii before Madhuri returned to Mumbai. Dr Nene will come down to Mumbai in December for a short while.
But the gossip mongers are still not willing to give in. They are busy finding flaws in the Nenes’ marital bliss. Why the hurry after waiting so long, and why didn’t Dr Nene accompany her on her first visit to Mumbai as Mrs Nene, they ask.
Incidentally, a day after she announced her marriage, Madhuri won a tough competition (with Madhubala, Nutan and Nargis) to be named the “actress of the millennium.” May the Nenes be gloriously happy.
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