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Madhoo Shah, also known simply as Madhoo, shot to fame in the early 1990s with iconic performances in ‘Phool Aur Kaante’, ‘Roja’, and ‘Allari Priyudu’. Her performance in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Roja’ made her a household name.
Despite her fame, Madhoo always had clear boundaries when it came to acting. She believed in keeping a ‘gharelu’ image and says it was her ‘upbringing’ that didn’t allow her to do bold films.‘I said yes to everything… except this’Madhoo never had many conditions when it came to accepting film roles, except one. In an interview with News18 Showsha, she said, “And that’s the only reason why I turned down films. Otherwise, I said yes to everything that came my way.”
That one deal-breaker? No explicit scenes.A kissing scene that left her shakenBut even after setting her boundaries, one uncomfortable moment made its way into her career. Madhoo shared that there was one film where she ended up kissing her co-star – something she hadn’t been told about in advance. “It wasn’t the kind of kiss that we see in films today. It was more like a peck on the lips but that made me feel really bad,” she recalled.
The most shocking part? She found out only after reaching the set.“That I was required to kiss wasn’t something that was conveyed to me before I began shooting. When I was told, they took me to the side and we had a conversation. They explained to me why it was important and that’s why I did it. But it was the most horrible and non-convincing thing I had to do,” Madhoo shared.‘The kiss didn’t even serve any purpose’Madhoo went ahead with the scene, but it didn’t sit well with her.
Looking back, she doesn’t think it added anything meaningful to the film. “The kiss didn’t even serve any purpose. I didn’t even have a conversation with the director to not include that scene in the film. I let it pass. I was too young in every way and not just by age. Today, 22-year-olds and 24-year-olds are so clever and exposed. At 22, I was very naïve,” she said honestly.When ‘Fire’ sparked something new in her thinkingYears later, it was Deepa Mehta’s 1996 film ‘Fire’ that helped shift Madhoo’s mindset about on-screen intimacy. The film starred Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das as lesbian lovers – a bold move at the time.“I don’t mean to say that onscreen kissing is a bad thing. When I saw ‘Fire’ starring actors like Shabana ji, I thought they really broke the barrier of their own conditioning, which I was unable to do back then. I don’t think I can do what they did even now. I appreciate actors who can shave their heads off or play lesbians in films,” she said.Slowly stepping out of her comfort zoneMadhoo now hopes to take small steps to overcome her past fears and challenge herself as an actor. She expressed her desire to separate herself as a person and an actor and break psychological barriers in her own way. Reflecting on her younger years, she said she was once just a girl who wanted to be a movie star, but now she is an actor who wants to take on different kinds of roles. “I want to see how much I can break my own conditioning and transform myself and if I can play a role as convincingly as Shabana ji did in ‘Fire’,” she shared.
English (US)