Indian actress Madhuri Dixit made her acting debut in 1984 with Abodh where she portrayed a young bride.^[1] Dixit went on to appear in several films over the next three years, including the dramas Awara Baap (1985) and Swati (1986), though none of them garnered her much recognition.^[1] The role of Mohini in N. Chandra's action romance drama Tezaab (1988) proved to be a breakthrough for Dixit. The film went on to become the highest-grossing film of that year. For her performance, Dixit received a Best Actress nomination at Filmfare.^[2][3] She achieved further success by featuring as the female lead in several top-grossing action-dramas, including Ram Lakhan (1989), Tridev (1989), and Kishen Kanhaiya (1990).^[4][5] The role of a wealthy brat in the 1990 romantic drama Dil earned Dixit her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress.^[6] The following year, she starred in another box-office hit Saajan, and won a second Best Actress award at Filmfare for portraying the role of a strong woman who rebels against her manipulative mother-in-law in the 1992 drama Beta.^[6][7]

She featured alongside Jackie Shroff and Sanjay Dutt in the action thriller Khalnayak (1993), one of the highest-grossing films of that year.^[8] Subsequently, she played an avenger in the drama Anjaam (1994) to positive reviews.^[9] Dixit's subsequent release was Sooraj Barjatya's Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), a family drama which emerged as the highest-grossing Bollywood film to that point.^[10][11] The following year, she featured in Raja (1995) which was a blockbuster film of that year and Yaraana in which she played a woman who attempts an escape from her abusive husband.^[12] Both of her releases in 1996—Rajkumar and Prem Granth—were financial failures.^[13] Dixit's portrayal of a headstrong dancer in Yash Chopra's 1997 romance Dil To Pagal Hai was a major success, earning her a fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actress.^[14][15] She garnered critical acclaim for her work in the dramas Mrityudand (1997), Wajood (1998) and Pukar (2000).^[16] She portrayed five roles in the experimental film Gaja Gamini (2000).^[17]

Dixit was praised for her supporting role as a woman fighting against gender discrimination in Lajja (2001), a drama on women's rights, which performed poorly at the box-office.^[18][19] The year 2002 saw Dixit starring in two romantic dramas, including Devdas opposite Shah Rukh Khan, in which she played the role of Chandramukhi, a courtesan in love with an alcoholic. For the film, she won a Filmfare Award in the Best Supporting Actress category.^[15][20] After a five-year absence from the screen, Dixit played a leading role in Anil Mehta's dance film Aaja Nachle (2007).^[16] Despite the film's failure at the box-office, her performance was praised.^[16] The widely praised role of a con woman Begum Para in Abhishek Chaubey's black comedy film Dedh Ishqiya (2014) marked her first acting role in seven years,^[21][22][23] she received her 14th Best Actress nomination at Filmfare for it.^[24][25] She followed it by playing the leader of a vigilante group in the action crime drama film Gulaab Gang.^[26] Her highest-grossing release came with the adventure comedy Total Dhamaal (2019), which ranks among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time. On television, Dixit has served as a talent judge for the dance reality shows Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (2010–2014, 2022) and Dance Deewane (2018–2021).

Films

Television