90s actress Madhu, known for her hit film Phool Aur Kaante, didn’t benefit much from its success. After Roja, she became popular but didn’t achieve much in Bollywood. Despite working with big stars, she found greater success in South Indian cinema. On her birthday, let’s revisit an interview she gave with Lehren on the set of Mohini, where she shared her Bollywood experience, the success of Phool Aur Kaante and Roja, and working with the Dream Girl, Hema Malini. #madhoo #hemamalini #phoolaurkaante #roja #lehrenpodcast
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00:00I admit that in Phool aur Kaante, I had such a good time that I got a break and my film was a hit.
00:06But it wasn't so good that I became a star.
00:08After watching Roja, people thought that I can also act.
00:11After Phool aur Kaante, it is true that everyone knows that I didn't flourish.
00:16But I was not sitting at home waiting for work.
00:18I kept working every day.
00:20Roja is not just a Mani Ratnam film.
00:22It was of course conceived by him.
00:24It is not that he didn't show me acting.
00:26I feel that I have done it.
00:31Madhu, you are from a film family.
00:33Can we say that acting has been in your blood?
00:36I don't know if acting is in my blood or not.
00:39But since childhood, I had a desire to become an actress.
00:44But when I was 17-18 years old, this desire came out.
00:50When I got the confidence that maybe I can do it,
00:54till then I was not even sure if I can tell anyone or not.
00:57When people used to ask that what do you want to become when you grow up,
01:00I never used to say that I want to become an actress.
01:02I was like, I don't know what will happen.
01:05And when you told about your interest in acting at home,
01:08what was the reaction of your family?
01:11No, I didn't say that I want to become an actress.
01:17Because I didn't have the confidence that I can become an actress.
01:21I always had this doubt that do I have that talent,
01:24do I have the looks or do I have all the requirements to become an actress.
01:29These doubts were always there and I could never tell anyone.
01:32And especially I couldn't tell my father and Hema ji.
01:35It so happened that my father is a producer.
01:38He had made a film Awargi at that time.
01:42And sometimes I used to go to college and sometimes I used to go to the set.
01:46And one day when I went there,
01:48one of his friends saw me and he was going to start a film at that time.
01:52So he said that I will introduce your daughter.
01:55And my father came in front of me and asked, are you interested?
01:59So I never had to express that I want to become an actress.
02:03Because my father asked me, are you interested?
02:06That's all.
02:08Phool Aur Kaate was your launching film.
02:11How much benefit or loss did this cause in your opinion?
02:14The benefit was that I got a break.
02:17Because before Phool Aur Kaate I did a lot of struggling.
02:20Sorry.
02:21I also did Roshan Dhaneja acting school.
02:24And after that after the film started, it stopped.
02:28And many people had sent me my portfolio, my photographs.
02:32And I didn't get any offer or any assignment.
02:36So Phool Aur Kaate was my first.
02:38So I got a break.
02:39The biggest benefit is that I got a chance to come on screen for the first time.
02:43And the film was a hit.
02:45And it was a very big hit.
02:47If you still talk about which is the hit film,
02:50then you will say Sholay, so and so, so and so, Phool Aur Kaate, so and so.
02:53And I am the heroine of Phool Aur Kaate.
02:56So that much credit I did have.
02:58Yes, this is a different thing that I could not become an individual star.
03:03But that's okay.
03:05The film was a hit and I got a break.
03:07This is the benefit for me.
03:09After Phool Aur Kaate, you were seen in South's very good film Roja.
03:14How did you feel working with Mani Ratnam?
03:17Tell us something about that film.
03:19After Phool Aur Kaate, it is true that I did not get very good Hindi films.
03:24But I was very busy.
03:26I was working here and in South.
03:28And I always got good films in South.
03:30You can say this is my luck.
03:33A good producer, a good director gave me a break.
03:36I got a good film.
03:37And I got a name as an actress.
03:39As everything, I got a status in South.
03:42And during this time, Roja was also made.
03:44And Roja was released in Tamil.
03:46And a lot of Hindi people, industry people saw the film.
03:49And that's when the pickup started.
03:51It has just been released in Hindi.
03:53But I already had Roja released in Tamil two years ago.
03:56And I have never been dormant.
04:00After Phool Aur Kaate, it is true that I did not flourish.
04:05But I was not sitting at home waiting for work.
04:08I was working every day.
04:10In South, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi.
04:15So I was always working.
04:17The result of my work is that my films are being released.
04:20Like Alaan and Pehchaan were released.
04:23And this year, I expect to release 3-4 films.
04:27After Roja, your career took a different turn.
04:30So have you got some different types of roles?
04:33Yes.
04:35After watching Roja, people thought that I can also act.
04:39And...
04:43Actually, I don't want to say that I am an actress, I can act.
04:46That's why people noticed me.
04:48And I got popularity.
04:50Because I am a very strong believer of destiny, fate and time.
04:57I believe in Phool Aur Kaate.
04:59My time was so good that I got a break and my film was a hit.
05:03But it was not so good that I became a star.
05:05But I am getting it.
05:07So I say, I am not doing anything better.
05:09I have not changed my face.
05:12I have not changed since that day and today.
05:15I can say that I did this, so I am getting this.
05:19I will say that evolution is happening.
05:23My time is good, so I am getting.
05:26Of course, I deserve it.
05:28Because I work sincerely.
05:30I work with full dedication.
05:32I always want to do my best.
05:35Still, I will not take the credit that whatever I am getting today.
05:40This is because of me.
05:42I did it, I worked hard, that's why I got it.
05:44I don't think so, I believe in God.
05:46How much of a director's actress are you?
05:49I am a director's actress completely.
05:52I definitely contribute.
05:57I definitely show that I can do this, I can do that.
06:02But I don't strongly say that I want to do this.
06:05Because I think that we, the artists, especially the new artists, are not so involved.
06:12We shift one in the morning, we shift one in the evening.
06:15After we get the scene, we know that this is the scene.
06:18But the director brings the graph of the entire film.
06:21He would have thought about a graph.
06:27So whatever he wants, he should give.
06:29I think as an actress.
06:31Because we are not fully involved, he is.
06:33So I can do it, I can do this, I can do that.
06:36The director will tell what he wants.
06:38So I think I am a director's artist completely.
06:41After this, you got a lot of recognition from Paichaan films.
06:45But if you compare Paichaan and Roja, there were different kinds of roles.
06:49Then which kind of roles are you comfortable with?
06:52I don't want to think that I can do this well.
06:55Or I am comfortable in this and I am not comfortable in this.
06:58Because I want to do all kinds of roles.
07:01I don't want to categorize myself that I am good in that.
07:04And I am trying to do everything.
07:06And at this stage of my career, I don't want to say that I can do this and I can't do that.
07:10Because I haven't experimented with myself completely yet.
07:14And if you have seen Ailan, I have done a very light role in that.
07:20And in Paichaan, it's different. And in Roja, it's different.
07:23And I get a lot of roles in South Indian films with variations.
07:28And the role I am doing in Hindi now, I am doing a lot of different roles.
07:34So I don't know which one I am comfortable with and which one I am not.
07:38As an actress, what will you say? What are your plus or minus points?
07:43My plus point is that I am never satisfied with what I am doing.
07:50After giving a shot, I will ask everyone who comes in front of me if it was okay.
07:57I am never satisfied that I gave a good shot and go and sit.
08:01This is a plus and my minus point is also this.
08:04Because in this, a little confidence is lost.
08:08Because you feel confident that I can do this.
08:11That gives a different attitude.
08:13But when you feel that I did this right, there is no improvement after that.
08:18So my plus and minus point is the same.
08:22Dancing is a very big criteria for an actress.
08:25Did you learn dancing from childhood or did you learn it to come in the film?
08:29No, I have learned it from childhood.
08:31Because as you know, in our South Indian families,
08:34dance, music, veena, instruments are very important.
08:38Even at the time of marriage, the groom's family asks the bride,
08:41does the bride know how to dance? Does she know how to play veena?
08:44So this is the requirement of our family to learn dance.
08:47So I have been learning dance since childhood.
08:50But the bad thing is that I have never been able to learn it completely.
08:55Because I am very accident prone.
08:57Whenever I felt like I was going to do Arrangetram,
09:00I used to get a fracture or something.
09:03So I couldn't perfect it.
09:06But I am learning rhythm and beat even today.
09:10I am not saying that I am a very good dancer because I have learned it from childhood.
09:13Even today, I do all kinds of dance.
09:16Like I did a type of dance in the morning, now I am doing classical.
09:19I am not perfect.
09:21But I am well versed with it.
09:23And I learn.
09:25I don't feel ashamed to learn.
09:27I don't feel that I don't know this.
09:29And hundreds of people are watching.
09:32So I do what I know.
09:34I am ready to do 10 rehearsals and 20 rehearsals.
09:37Madhu, how do you feel about working with Emma?
09:41She is directing and you are acting.
09:44First of all, I don't want to be misunderstood.
09:48But as I told you before, I will not take the credit of my success or failure.
09:54I blame it on God and time.
09:57But I will definitely say that I am very proud of myself.
10:00Because as you asked, I have a filmy background.
10:03My father is a producer.
10:05Emma is a housewife.
10:07If she tells any director or producer to take her,
10:11I am sure they will take me at least once.
10:14But I am very proud of myself because I didn't have to do this.
10:18I also struggled like ordinary people do.
10:21And today when I am working with her,
10:24I am working as an individual.
10:26I am on my own.
10:28I have an identity.
10:30Maybe very small before her or before anybody.
10:33But I am working on my own.
10:35Madhu is working with Emma Malini.
10:37It's not like I am getting a break or I am being given an obligation.
10:44It's not like that.
10:45That I am proud of.
10:46But I am very proud to work with her.
10:48I am very happy to work with her.
10:49Because she is one director who knows what she is doing.
10:54And I don't know how the end result will be.
10:58Whether it will be a hit or not.
11:00That is besides the point.
11:02But a good film is definitely being made.
11:04And it is fun to work with such a person.
11:07And Emma ji being from the house,
11:09it feels...
11:11Her feeling is something else.
11:13I am feeling very good.
11:14It feels like I am working with the people of the house.
11:17Lunch also comes from the house.
11:19Sometimes from my house, sometimes from their house.
11:21It doesn't feel like I am working.
11:23In the shift from 2 to 10, even if it's 11 or 12, I do it.
11:27In another place, it's 10 o'clock.
11:29It starts at 10 o'clock in the night.
11:31But with her...
11:33I feel that my film is being made.
11:36And I should contribute in every way.
11:40Going back to Roja, what did you learn from Mani Ratnam as an actress?
11:44I learned a lot.
11:46The art of being natural.
11:49I can tell you a small incident.
11:53There was a scene in Roja.
11:55When I was heating something in the kitchen.
11:58Something in the kitchen.
11:59So I was sweating a lot in the middle of the shot.
12:02So I just wiped my face with my blouse.
12:04Instead of asking for a blanket.
12:06Because the makeup man was standing very far away.
12:08And he told me, do that in the shot.
12:11Have you seen anyone doing this in the shot?
12:15Like this.
12:16Or like this.
12:17Because you're acting.
12:18You're thinking you're wiping your sweat.
12:20But when you're natural, you'll wipe it with your shirt.
12:22And I did that between two takes.
12:24And he said, do that in the take.
12:27You see, these are very small, small things.
12:30And apart from that, he makes you very comfortable.
12:33Mani Ratnam is a very big director.
12:36And all of his films have been a hit.
12:38Spielberg of India.
12:40But he never forced me to do this.
12:44Or that.
12:45He used to give me this scene.
12:47He used to explain the scene.
12:48In front, behind, whatever it is.
12:50And he used to say, do it.
12:52And I used to do what I felt like doing.
12:55And there was lighting on that.
12:58It wasn't like he used to light up and say, do this.
13:00And then take this light, take that light.
13:02This didn't happen either.
13:03I used to do it and show that I will go from here to there.
13:06And then there was lighting on it.
13:08I was very comfortable.
13:09And whatever he wants, a little more, a little less.
13:13That was there.
13:14But he gave me a full, like as an actress.
13:16That is why I feel Roja is not just a Mani Ratnam film.
13:20It was, of course, conceived by him.
13:22But I feel that from my side too, I have done.
13:26It is not that he didn't show me by acting.
13:28To see like this, to see here, to see there.
13:31I feel that I have done that.
13:33And that's why I feel good about myself after that film.
13:37For more information, visit www.FEMA.gov