Naseeruddin Shah: I Rate Madhuri Dixit On Par With Madhubala

Naseeruddin Shah is having a ball in Lucknow shooting for Abhishek Choubey’s Dedh Ishqiya, the sequel to the well-received Ishqiya. He says the sequel is better scripted than part one. His co-star is Madhuri Dixit adds to Naseer’s sense of enjoyment,  “I have to confess I am a Madhuri Dixit fan.

I am not embarrassed to say this. I rate her on a par wth Waheeda Rehman and Madhubala. I was also in MF Hussain’s Gaja Gamini, the one that nobody understood. I tried very hard to understand what was going in the film.

I think Hussain saab admired Madhuri. So he decided to make a movie around her. There was no story or anything. It was just a series of beautiful images, totally abstract and non-cinematic. I think he was trying to create a new language in cinema.”

Dedh Ishqiya is the first film that gives Naseer a chance to enjoy Madhuri’s presence as a co-star. “I am glad Madhuri and I are finally doing a film that has a plot and some substance. In Gaja Gamini we had no scenes together. I am amazed to see her at work in Dedh Ishqiya. She is playing her age very gracefully.”