Production is like having a baby, says Madhuri Dixit

The Asian Age.  | Uma Ramasubramanian

Entertainment, Bollywood

Madhuri Dixit on producing a film and why it is more challenging than acting.

Madhuri Dixit

With her million dollar smile, Madhuri Dixit continues to rule the hearts of her fans. At 51, the actress has no time to take a backseat in her career. And, in between acting, Madhuri has now ventured into production with a Marathi film 15 August. Set in a Mumbai chawl, the actress along with her husband Sriram Nene has decided to release the film on Netflix.

Sharing her first-hand experience on production, she reveals that production is way more difficult than acting. “Acting is like you are done for the day after pack up but producing is like having a baby. From conception to its release in the theatres, it is like literally having a baby. It is like raising a child and you don’t know how it’s going to turn out,” she says and adds, “As an actor, it’s not easy but my responsibility ends as the day ends. I go home and I chill. But, for a  producer, he cannot get out the character, he has to be with the film throughout. It’s a little more difficult and it’s a different challenge.”

So, how well verse is Madhuri with the production work? “I won’t say that I know everything about production because that’s not my forte. I am more of a creative person. So, for me hearing the script is more of my job. The actual producer’s hat is donned by my husband. When you work here (in the film industry) for too long, we don’t think out of the box and sometimes he comes up with some ideas that make me think that we can also do it this way.”

Adding to this, her husband says, “My value addition is that I am not from the industry. So, I can look at things differently and come up with a unique solution. It’s hard sometimes because everyone is so occupied. So, I would say the celebration of this one is a real team effort.”

While a lot of adult content is shown in the digital space, Madhuri wants to stick to her family audience.

“It also depends on who is producing it, what is your subject and which network is carrying it. We cannot answer for others but as far as we are concerned, we are more into the family entertainer zone. We don’t like to put in anything unnecessarily, it has to be relatable and respectful to the audience,” she concludes.

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