Her last outing Aaja Nachle may have failed and she may be based in the US, but that's not stopping Bollywood's dancing diva Madhuri Dixit from being part of the evolving entertainment industry in India.
The 43-year-old is back in business with what she is best at — dance. She will be judging Sony TV's reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, and says the failure of Aaja Nachle in 2007 didn't disappoint her.
"I don't regret doing anything. When you work in a film, you do it thinking it will turn out well and will do well. But when it doesn't do well, there's nothing much you can do about it. So why should I regret anything?" said Dixit.
A resident of Denver, Colorado, where she lives with her husband Sriram Nene and two sons — Arin, 7, and Raayan, 5 — she is out of touch with Bollywood but wants to be part of the changing face of Indian cinema by trying her hand at new genres.
"My choice of scripts will always be based on what appeals to me in a role. Of course, I will be looking for different kinds of roles. It's tough to say which role I have liked in recent times...but, yes, very different kinds of films are being made these days and it would be great to know what's out there for me," Dixit said.
She is in India for a few months to shoot the reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa which goes on air on December 12, and plans to flip through scripts during her three-month stay in India, but can't stay here too long.
"This [Bollywood] is not the only life. I have another life [in the US] and I really love it. I do miss India and my friends here. So it's like having two homes. When I am here, I miss my husband and children. When I am there, I miss people here.
"I can't stay long. I send my kids to school, prepare breakfast, shop for vegetables, drop them and pick them from school and all those things. I can do one film and then go, one show and then go, but I can't take too much on me," she said.
What keeps her in shape?
"Well I do kathak [Indian dance] back home. And it does help. Not only is it a physical exercise, it is beneficial spiritually. I also do yoga," she said.
