'Gulaab Gang' was my last chance to work with Madhuri: Juhi Chawla

Actress Juhi Chawla, who will be seen with Madhuri Dixit for the first time in "Gulaab Gang", says she doesn't think they will get another chance to work together in future.

Madhuri and Juhi were contemporaries in the 1990s but they never worked together during their prime.
"I think this ('Gulaab Gang') was the last chance I got to work with her (Madhuri Dixit) and I don't think we will again get a chance to work together in future," Juhi told reporters Monday at the screening of Bengali movie "Jatishwar" here.
"Gulaab Gang" has a very strong script and Juhi feels that such stories are not churned out in bulk, therefore, she isn't so hopeful of seeing her and Madhuri on the big screen together again.
"It happens once in a lifetime when we get such a good script and where we can work together with such dedication. So, I don't imagine that we will again be working (together). That's why the film is exciting for us as actors," said Juhi.
Juhi recalls the time when she missed the opportunity to work with Madhuri because of rivalry.
"There were times when I had a chance to work with Madhuri, but at that time we were rivals and I was like, 'I will not work with Madhuri at all'," Juhi spoke candidly.
"Now I agreed to do the film ('Gulaab Gang') as I felt it would be an amazing cast with such an awesome script," she added.
"Gulaab Gang", co-written by director Soumik Sen and producer Anubhav Sinha, is inspired by a group of women activists in the Bundelkhand region and talks about women empowerment.
It features Juhi and Madhuri in completely opposite roles. While Madhuri stands for justice, Juhi stands for political power as she plays a stubborn politician.
"Gulaab Gang" is slated to release March 7, a day before International Women's Day.
Juhi is eager to talk about the movie.
"I am waiting for the promotions to start. I will be happy to talk about the film. It was a unique experience while working in the film. I enjoyed it," she said.

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'Gulaab Gang' trailer crosses 1.5 million hits

Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha is ecstatic at the response to the trailer of his forthcoming co-production "Gulaab Gang" - it has crossed 1.5 million hits on YouTube.

Sinha took to Twitter to "raise a toast" to the amazing progress of the trailer which was released Jan 10.
"Is it okay to raise a toast in the afternoon? A toast to 1.5 million YouTube views of 'Gulaab Gang' trailer in four days," Sinha posted on the microblogging site Tuesday.
Starring Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla, "Gulaab Gang" talks about pink sari-clad women activists who protest against the social injustice against women in the Bundelkhand region of central India. Madhuri will be seen in a fiery avatar and has action scenes as well while Juhi plays a politician.
Directed by Soumik Sen and presented and co-produced by Sahara Movie Studios and Bharat Shah, the film will hit screens March 7.

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Madhuri Dixit: Enjoyed playing Begum Para in 'Dedh Ishqiya'

Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit says playing Begum Para, the new femme fatale in Abhishek Chaubey's 'Dedh Ishqiya', was challenging but fun.

"It was a challenging role because I could not go overboard with the character or underplay it. The more complex a character, the more taut a performance needs to be. Playing Begum Para was like a tightrope walk. It had to be just right and I had to constantly keep that in mind," Madhuri told PTI.

The 46-year-old actress, however, did not find it difficult to master the nuances or the Urdu diction of her character.

"The diction was not a problem as I have done a little bit of Urdu as Chandramukhi in 'Devdas'. My priority was getting the performance right."

The film, a sequel to 2010 'Ishqiya', is slated to release tomorrow. Both Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi are reprising their roles as Khalujaan and Babban while Huma Qureshi is the other new face in the movie.

Madhuri agreed to be a part of the sequel because she loved the "unapologetic way" Abhishek presented Vidya Balan's character of a beautiful, willful woman in 'Ishqiya'.

"I had seen 'Ishqiya' and was very impressed with the way a woman's character was etched out in it. Vidya was very well presented. There was no apology for the way she was which I found very interesting. So, I was already impressed with Abhishek and Vishalji's (Bhardwaj) work," she says.

It is her first lead role after 'Aaja Nachle' in 2007 but Madhuri does not consider it her comeback as she has been busy doing television, shooting for 'Dedh Ishqiya' and 'Gulaab Gang', her next release in March.

"It is not a comeback because I have been doing work. If a hero does a film after four years, they don't say it's a comeback but if a heroine does a film in three years, it becomes a comeback. This is the way things work here but that's fine. I just hope that people like my two films," Madhuri said. The actress says it was an honour to work with Shah again after films like 'Tridev', 'Rajkumar' and 'Gaj Gamini'.

"We did not have any scenes in 'Tridev' while in 'Rajkumar', he played a negative role. We were also together in 'Gaj Gamini'. It is an honour to work with him every time. He is very natural, you forget that you are doing a scene with him. Our whole chemistry was very beautiful in the film," Madhuri said.

The film also gave her a chance to work to Pandit Birju Maharaj for a song 'Jagaave saari raina'.

"I have two songs 'jagaawe saari raina' which is choreographed by Maharaj ji. This song does not have lip-sync so everything had to be done through acting and body language. The song comes at a very important moment in the film. I had worked with Maharajji in 'Devdas'.

"The other song is 'hamri atariyaa' which I think was more challenging to Remo D'Souza than me because he has never choreographed a classical number."

Her second film 'Gulab Gang' is coming after a gap of just two months. Madhuri, however, is happy that her fans will get a chance to see her in two completely different roles.

"I spent the last two years working on these two films. I think two months is quite a good gap for another film to release. Both the films are poles apart in terms of character and story."

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