The rumour that started it all
Bollywood’s dancing diva Madhuri Dixit has finally put to rest the wild speculation that she was four months pregnant while filming the iconic ‘Dola Re Dola’ from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Devdas’. The chatter began after choreographer Saroj Khan’s former associate Rubina Khan claimed on a YouTube channel that the actress struggled through the shoot due to pregnancy.
Rubina had alleged that a particular step where Madhuri turns and sits down had to be reshot for hours because she couldn’t move properly. “That shot kept happening from 9 am to 10 pm because she was four months pregnant. So, she couldn’t turn properly and was feeling dizzy,” she claimed. She also added that Madhuri had a fever during the shoot but never asked to change a single step.
Well, Madhuri heard the gossip and decided it was time to set the record straight — with some simple math.
Madhuri’s no-nonsense response
Speaking to SCREEN, Madhuri laughed off the entire controversy. Her response was crisp and to the point: “Arin is born in 2003. So, you do the math.” Her elder son Arin Nene was born on March 17, 2003, while ‘Devdas’ had already hit theatres on July 12, 2002, after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May that year. The timeline simply doesn’t add up.
However, the actress did admit that the shoot schedule was brutal. “I was under the weather because I was travelling a lot. I was going back and forth, shooting here and going back. And all my shoots were night shoots. So, for me, it was very grueling. I was a little under the weather, but nothing like that,” she explained.
At the time, Madhuri was juggling her time between Mumbai and Denver after marrying Dr. Shriram Nene in 1999. The constant travel and overnight shoots took a toll on her health, but she never let it affect her performance.
The legacy of Dola Re Dola and Saroj Khan
‘Devdas’ was Madhuri’s last film before she embraced motherhood. The film, starring Shah Rukh Khan as Devdas and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Paro, with Madhuri as Chandramukhi, remains a landmark in Indian cinema. Interestingly, the two female leads never meet in the original Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel, but Bhansali took creative liberties to create the unforgettable dance-off.
The song ‘Dola Re Dola’, composed by Ismail Darbar with lyrics by Nusrat Badr, was sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shreya Ghoshal and KK. It remains one of Bollywood’s most celebrated dance numbers, thanks to Madhuri and Aishwarya’s electric chemistry and Saroj Khan’s masterful choreography.
Madhuri and Saroj Khan shared one of the most legendary actor-choreographer partnerships in Hindi cinema, beginning with ‘Ek Do Teen’ from ‘Tezaab’ and continuing through decades of iconic songs, ending with ‘Tabaah Ho Gaye’ from ‘Kalank’. Saroj Khan passed away in July 2020, but her legacy lives on through these timeless performances.
So there you have it — the pregnancy claims have been officially debunked. Madhuri was just tired from all that back-and-forth travel, not a baby bump. And honestly, even if she had been pregnant, pulling off those moves would have been even more legendary, no?