'Devdas will bring back the old magic'

For critics who had written off Madhuri Dixit as another Bollywood actress blissfully trading silver screen glamour for life as an NRI wife, the Dhak dhak girl seems to have taken on the task of proving herself as a serious actress quite seriously.

Playing Chandramukhi in the millennium remake of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's popular Devdas is just the kind of role she thinks has the elements to put her post-prime career back on the rails.

"Working with [director] Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who had the guts to make a film on this celebrated and oft-filmed theme, was a good experience. [There have been two versions of the film: one directed by P C Barua and starring K L Saigal (1935), and the other, starring Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Vyjayanthimala, and directed by Bimal Roy (1955). The 2002 version, which releases in June stars Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai].

Dixit continued, "It should work magic and bring back the craze of my Ek, do, teen [from the film Tezaab] days," the glamorous screen beauty said, at the launch of a line of cosmetics named after her in Kolkata.

Devdas, which follows her experimental roles in Gaja Gamini by painter M F Husain and Rajkumar Santoshi's Lajja, has been the first exposure of its kind for Madhuri Dixit-Nene.

"I play a courtesan for the first time in my film career. It is no doubt a very challenging role, especially since Sanjay [Leela Bhansali] does not compromise with quality. The self-effacing nature of the character really appealed to me," Dixit, who was accompanied by her parents, said.

Dabbling with roles beyond the mainstream was one of her dreams ever since she rocketed to the top with N Chandra's Tezaab, said Dixit who was clad in a navy blue business suit.

PTI