In 1999, when Madhuri Dixit married Shriram Nene, left the film industry at the height of her stardom, and moved to Denver, she broke countless hearts, including that of MF Husain. The late legendary artist considered the actor his muse, and made several paintings of her, which he signed off as “Fida” (devoted).
“He was such a lovely person. I remember when he came to visit my home in Denver, he said, ‘I’ve always seen you as Madhuri Dixit, the actress. Now, I want to see you as Madhuri Dixit, the mother.’ Because I’d had both my sons at that time. I said, ‘Yes, you’re most welcome. Please come,’” recalled Madhuri in an interview with Faye D’Souza.
Madhuri Dixit and Dr Shriram Nene became parents to sons Arin in 2003 and Ryan in 2005, respectively. She’d starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s blockbuster period romance Devdas in 2002, but hadn’t acted after becoming a mother. Madhuri recalled that when MF Husain visited her family in Denver and began to paint her, she asked him to relax and sip on some tea instead.
“He said, ‘Why are you punishing me?’ I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘I’m most relaxed when I paint.’ That’s exactly how I feel about my art. I’m most comfortable in front of the camera, playing these different characters. I said, ‘Hussain ji, you made me realize that about myself too when you said that,’” said Madhuri.
“Every house he went to, he brought along a lot of goodwill, laughter, and sense of humour. When he came to visit me, he had nothing but a rollaway bag. I thought maybe he has clothes in that bag. When I came home, he said, ‘Bring a canvas. I want to paint.’ When I said, ‘But we’ll have to get paints too.’ He showed me the rollover bag and said, ‘No, here are the paints.’ I said, ‘Then where are your clothes? What are you going to wear?’ He said he just has the shirt and pants he was wearing then, and his night pyjamas underneath because it was cold in Denver. I said, ‘Okay, let’s go shopping now!,’” Madhuri recalled, laughing.
MF Husain even turned filmmaker for Madhuri as his 2000 directorial debut Gaja Gamini, starring the actor, was a tribute to her. He also had a cameo in Reema Rakesh Nath’s 1997 romantic film Mohabbat, in which Madhuri is shown to be a painter. All the paintings done by her character were actually created by Hussain.
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That motivational encounter with MF Husain in the mid-2000s prompted Madhuri Dixit to return to movies in 2007 with Anil Mehta’s directorial debut Aaja Nachle. She also began judging the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa and eventually returned to Mumbai with her family in 2011. She’ll be next seen as the titular role in Nagesh Kukunoor’s JioHotstar crime thriller show Mrs Deshpande.
MF Husain passed away at the age of 95 in 2011.
