Madhuri Dixit signs on the dotted line, will make her Marathi debut

A writer-director duo on how they managed to sign on the dhak-dhak girl Madhuri Dixit for her Marathi debut

When Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar and Devashree Shivadekar stepped into a room where Madhuri Dixit was waiting to hear their narration, there was a nervous silence initially. "But, the good kind of nerves", we are told. Leading to that moment was a series of serendipitous events.

Devashree Shivadekar and Tejas Deoskar will direct Madhuri Dixit in her debut Marathi film. Pic/Sameerâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Markande

Deoskar, 34, who had made two Marathi feature films - Ajinkya and Prem Sutra - is relatively new to the industry, while Shivadekar, had been living in the US for over seven years, and therefore, couldn't have been more cut off from the Marathi industry. But, in February this year the two met by chance, through a common friend. "I was here on vacation, toggling with ideas to write a film, when I met Tejas. He happened to share with me a one-line story for a film, and I was hooked. But, at that time, we did not imagine that we'd actually be doing the film with 'the' Madhuri Dixit," recalls the 30-year-old who did her masters in screenwriting from New York Film Academy.

As far-fetched as it seemed, Deoskar was always clear that he wanted no one but Dixit for his film. A fortunate connection with the superstar's PR, Reshma Shetty, gave him a slight ray of hope. "We sent a four-page story to her, without keeping our hopes high. You can imagine our surprise when we got a call back two days later. Madhuri wanted a narration of the script." Recalling the moment they met Dixit, a gushing Shivadekar says, "For the first few seconds, we could not stop looking at her. She has that effect on you. But, of course, we soon reminded ourselves that we were there for a purpose. It was a do-or-die moment."

Once the narration was done, there was a pause of 10 minutes. "No one in the room said a word. Madhuri was poker-faced as ever. After what seemed like an eternity, she said, 'we'll get back to you'," Deoskar says. "I was sure at that time that she would say no. Tejas, however, did not want to assume yet," says his writing partner. They waited outside, contemplating and speculating for nearly half an hour, when they got a call from Dixit's team saying she had liked the script. It was still a long way to go till she signed the dotted line. Two more script reading sessions followed, during with the writer duo had done narrations with 70 people, before sitting with Madhuri, each time. "We did narrations for all age groups, between 16 and 70, people who were not connected to industry. We wanted a lay person's opinion. By the fifth draft, we knew we had accomplished something."

Deoskar won't give much away about the story. "It is a true story, something that was in fact published in a newspaper abroad two years ago. It's the journey of self-discovery of a woman in her early 40s, and there was no one other than Madhuri who could have done this film." Dixit finally signed on the dotted line in August, and soon after, Shetty, her PR told Deoskar that this was the first time Madhuri had read a script and called back personally.
While roping in a big star is a great kick, it can come with its own set of challenges. "She's extremely dignified and accommodating as a person, who has relaxed several protocols to adjust to the budget and scale of the film. This is not Bollywood, after all. Had that not have been the case, yes, things could have gotten burdensome," Deoskar says.

The film goes on the floors in December, and aims for a summer release next year. These days of course, the duo meets the star often. "We have frequent discussions about the story, characterisation, technicalities etc. We are also doing a few workshops with her. She is very receptive as a person and as an actor, and with each meeting, I feel we are only getting better."

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