Watch: Madhuri Dixit On Nationalism and Her Maiden Netflix Film

In conversation with Madhuri Dixit and Sriram Nene about their first film as producers for Netflix.

Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Sriram Nene on 15 August their maiden film as producers.

(Photo: The Quint)

Well, Madhuri Dixit is now on Netflix. One of India’s most popular actors from the 90s has made her debut as a producer along with her husband Dr Sriram Nene. Madhuri and Sriram are behind the Marathi film 15 August, which drops on Netflix on 29 March. I caught up with Madhuri and Sriram to chat about their new venture and lots more.

Q: Now if there were an Indian edition of the Ripley's Believe it or Not, one of the first items I'm sure would be that you know Dr. Sriram Nene hadn’t seen any film of Madhuri Dixit when he got married to her –

Madhuri Dixit: (Laughs)

Sriram Nene: (Laughs) I mean that's a good way to put it.

Q: I mean I'm sure the whole of India would be like “What?!”. Has this in anyway changed, have you caught up?

Sriram: Well just to qualify it, I didn't speak Hindi. I’m Maharashtrian, so I spoke Marathi. And all the Hindi films, I couldn't understand. I grew up in the West as you said, and so in the West you know, you had these plot driven thrillers. I mean I was a huge Star Wars fan and other things growing up, right? So for me it wasn't something which was different than any other immigrant child growing up in the U.S. Even in coming to Mumbai every summer, we didn't go to watch Hindi films, because we lived in Mumbai and we spoke Marathi. It's changed to some degree and that I have gone to a few of the premieres. I've seen a handful of the films. I think-- you know that the storytelling which occurs here is an art which is in and of itself interesting. And I think that's even involving. I think all of us would agree that we've gone from, you know song and musical things to some plot driven stuff and you know there's an evolution. But there's a certain beauty in that. And you have to appreciate that to really understand you know how this all fits in. Having said that I'd probably seen a handful of films.

Madhuri Dixit: Now, after marriage. (Laughs)

Sriram: After marriage. Yeah.

Q: Madhuri, you've done so many films you've done romance, you've done suspense, you've done issue based films, you've done a few violent films also. Now when you put on a producer's hat what were the things that came to your mind that these other things that my film should have, and these the things that my film shouldn't have.

Madhuri: You cannot really go into a movie thinking this is what my film should have or shouldn't have. Because you have scripts. And, it's always the kind of stories you want to tell. And when I heard the script of 15 August, I thought it was a very relatable film. Because as a Maharashtrian, I have lived with people, my relatives who have lived in chawls, I have seen that life very closely. And, so I felt that this was something I could identify with. I could identify the emotions, the whole play of the characters with each other and also because even though it's a comedy it has a lot of layers. It tells you something. It's a story. It's trying to, you know, give you a kind of life lessons. And yet they're entertaining. And it's a family entertainer. You know anybody can sit and watch the film and enjoy it. So I thought this would be ideal as my first movie.

Q: Now I watched 15 August and I really liked it. But was there any reason why you chose to make it in Marathi because you couldn't made it in Hindi with the same setting with you know Mumbaiyya Hindi, and probably reached a wider audience in terms of you know people just saying that “Oh, it’s a Hindi film.”

Madhuri: Umm, I thought that Marathi would be very ideal for the situation and the kind of characters they are. The kind of dialogues that were written. They sound better in Marathi than Hindi.. to me. And so I thought that you know this this is a very Marathi film. Also they're my roots. This is my root. I came from a Maharashtrian family. I am a Maharashtrian. And if I'm making my first film or doing something new as a producer then I would have liked to make a Marathi film first before anything else.

Q: How has the shift from cardiovascular surgery to producing films been, and a wild question is do you find any similarities between the two extremely different vocations?

Sriram: I think cardiovascular surgery taught me that millimeters and milliseconds made the difference between life and death. And that level of perfection that you have to attain is kind of like counting to infinity sometimes because you'll never get there, but that same drive isn't everything we do. And, so whether it's in making films or it's in running a company or whether it's in trying to get healthcare to a billion people, the idea is simple that you have to do everything in your power to do things properly. And, so even in this film project and in the film company we were so circumspect about how we did things, we always had backup systems, we always had you know people and we always you know checked and rechecked.. you know you measure twice cut once sort of thing. So, I would say it teaches you. It's like being an athlete, right? Going into cardiac surgery, I played a lot of tennis on varsity teams and all that. You get trained and it trains your mind as well as your body to encounter and overcome obstacles. And, so I think I would say to anyone, you know, use what you got, and leave the rest to fate and to where you're going and bring what you have to the table and make people's lives better and try to have some fun at the same time.

Q: 15 August is a very heart warming and feel good kind of a film. It’s reflective also in a way. The Gandhi Chawl in the film is you know, it could be a representation of India in a certain way. The chaos, the culture, the people. Now, you've been born and brought up in the US and you came to Bombay in 2011. What were your first impressions about India, once you started living here?

Sriram: So, it's partly true. But every summer when I was growing up, we would spend with my grandparents in Dadar, in the colony at Shivaji Park. And they didn't live much different than what I saw there. And I mean to be honest we've been very fortunate but we didn't grow up.. we grew up more like this than what it is now. And so we identify with a lot of this. You identify the.. at the end of it’s-- it's the human condition and the happiness which they have. It's not measured by what you have but it's rather measured by the people around you which was so special about the chawl. It's a very unique way of living that you have all these people from different backgrounds put into one place sharing common, you know facilities and everything. And it's quickly going away. So, we thought this would be such a critical story to tell in this India, as we move from an agrarian to an industrialized society and mirror the west with the high rise, like in Mumbai, right? Right. And. At the same time what you see in this film is the happiness. So, to answer your question me coming from the US-- my roots were here as well you know with my grandparents and with my uncles and aunts. So me moving back I speak Marathi fluently. I had a lot of the culture and part of the reason we came back was so that our kids could enjoy that. You know we're Indians at heart after all said then you can go anywhere but you can't take the Indian out of the person, you know? And that's true I think of all of Indians no matter where you're from in India if you go to the U.S. you're identified as Indian first and then you ask for what not. So, I think it's all fair to say that this was a movie which really struck to our roots. And it wasn't any different than what I saw growing up.

Q: Madhuri, you were in the US for over a decade and you've been of course in India and you've seen the good and bad of both. And just like the Gandhi Chawl, there’s a little positive and a little negative in everybody living here. If there were like three things you could change about India, you know, what would they be?

Madhuri: The roads for sure.

Q: That's one

Madhuri: Yeah. The infrastructure needs to get better. Apart from that I don't know what I would change. Maybe I would like people to be more proactive with whatever they're doing.

Q: A little less laid back?

Madhuri: Yes. “Chalo. Nahin nahin, yeh karna hai.” You know, and we got to get this done. Let's do it— kind of. I think you know, the kind of love that is here? I think you can find it anywhere in the world.

Q: We see in 15 August, you know, the residents of the Gandhi Chawl are faced with a certain kind of situation and they all join in to solve that situation. It's also 15th August. There's a certain kind of unity that's developed and does the national anthem playing and that problem gets solved. So, there's this message of nationalism which comes across quite sweetly in the story. But nationalism today is a word which is a little you know controversial, you know? Some people have twisted it here and there, whether it's in the US or in India. What according to you represents nationalism or what is your idea of nationalism?

Sriram: I think the commonalities of all of us outweigh the things which are different. And in the end it's about the spirit of oneness. I mean look for 4000 years India has been not just one India but it's been many Indias. We've lived in harmony, if not peace, right? That's not something in a democracy which you see anywhere else on the planet. You take Indians you put them anywhere on the planet they succeed and they succeed well. ___(?) for us producing this and then taking it out on a platform like Netflix allows us to disseminate that message of why we're so proud of being Indian and the films and the kind of culture that are coming out of here to 190 countries and 350 million people. Could you do that just going to the theatres? I mean for two weeks, maybe. But here this is in perpetuity. So, I-- I think the opportunity here is to educate the world on what we have and not judge until you've walked in someone's shoes. You can't really sit back and say this is right or wrong.

Q: Right.

Sriram: Right? And that's part of the story, that the commonality of the people even though they may be from different parts of the country or what not was that it was India first, and then everything else second.

Q: Madhuri, do you have a definition of nationalism or your idea of nationalism?

Madhuri: Well. I think it's-- it's like you know when you're in different professions. It's the love of what you do. Is the love for where you live. Is a love of who you meet. So, it all boils down to love. And I think if you want to live in a society which is, you know, very together then you have to love your neighbours, you have to love everyone. And that is what sets you free and that's exactly what 15 August says in the end. That finally love will set your free. If you love and that's what you spread, the message of love, then you know that that's the ideal way to live.

Q: Now the casting is really refreshing. What kind of role did you play in choosing the actors, or was it completely left to the director?

Madhuri: Well, we all worked on it as a group so it's always teamwork filmmaking cannot be just one person doing something. It's teamwork, and so we all contributed to the kind of actors we wanted. We wanted good actors, you know in this movie because it's all about performances. And, we did get you know the best the cream of cream, like, Vaibhav Mangle was doing the character who’s always up with ideas on how to rescue the child. Or there’s Mrinmayee who has fabulous films behind her – Katyar Katjat Ghusli, she's a very good actress. There is Adinath, who is also a very good actor, and I thought he was so good for that role that he played and the Raju’s character which was amazing, which was like very high voltage kind of -- a very meek guy but suddenly when he's cornered, he is a very high voltage person. So I thought he was exactly-- he fit the role very well. And so we're very happy with the casting and finally how the film turned out and now it's on Netflix.

Q: My last question. Madhuri, you must be watching a lot of shows on Netflix and other platforms. Which are your favourite shows, if you could name one or two? And if you were to remake a popular web show, which you would want to feature in which would you pick?

Madhuri: It's a great question. But, you know when I when I watch Netflix, there's so much content there's so much different content. So many different stories in different languages. Whether it's Narcos or whether it is-- which was the series that we were binge watching? House of Cards or you know? So, each story is different. Each storytelling-- the way the story is told is different, the language is different. So I think it is-- t is like a buffet of so many different kind of contents that it’s very hard to pick and say that I want to remake this. But, I think it has to be something original, something very interesting, something that I would feel that you know this is what I want to do, and I find it exciting. So I think instead of remaking something that's already there I would rather create something, that people will find exciting.

Q: Okay, we look forward to that and we hope that happens.

Madhuri: Thank you.

Q: Thank you so much for talking to us.

Madhuri: Thank you.

Sriram: My pleasure.