‘I miss the limelight’

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She might have been a one-hit wonder in Bollywood but her role as the simple village girl in Roja has been etched in our minds forever. Her innocent charm tugged at the toughest of hearts and her performance won her multiple accolades from the audiences and critics.

Two decades down the line, the actress-turned-socialite exudes the same gullible magnetism that was her claim to fame.
“I miss being in the movies so much,” she confesses at the start. “I miss acting and I miss the limelight. The last two movies that I worked in did not do well at the box office but that hasn’t let me down. The film industry is where I am supposed to be. If roles of my choice don’t come my way, I’ll take to direction. I may not know the technicalities of it, but I’ll work my way around it because that’s where my heart and soul lie,” she continues.
Madhoo believes that her entry in films, whether Bollywood or the South was a matter of destiny. “I believe things will happen if they are meant to happen. At the time of Roja or the other movies I did at the time, I was not any more talented than the rest of the actresses or did not have a great a PR strategy in place. It just happened, because it was meant to. Much like my marriage and the life after that,” she adds. The latter however, is one fairy tale of a story, admits the actress.
Madhoo signed up for a calendar shoot for her to-be husband Anand Shah’s automobile company through a common friend. The latter had seen her movie Diljale and was smitten since. So after initial talks about the assignment on the phone, the two who had never met before, set off to Bali for the shoot. “The shoot got over in half a day, but we spent the next four days walking the streets of the beautiful town. We spoke endlessly those few days and fell in love almost immediately and Anand proposed to me right there in Bali!” she says. The ad however, never saw the light of the day because “Anand did not want to have his wife to pose for his company calendar,” she smiles.
Things are a little different since then. However, the actress is still a sweetheart with the paparazzi, being seen at most high-profile social dos in her pricey Jimmy Choos. Talking about her new social avatar she says, “Luckily for me, I travel the world with my husband. If I pick up a Dolce & Gabbana dress from Bond Street in London, there are little chances of me going wrong with it. I have the luxury of going to the best boutiques around the globe and picking up beautiful things. If I manage to dress up badly, despite the luxuries I can afford, then that would mean there’s something wrong with my inherent style! So yes, fashion for me is accidental,” she smiles humbly.
Life for the actress now revolves around her two daughters Ameeya and Keia. “They are growing up so fast that we are at a stage where we are friends more than mother-daughter. We spend a lot of time together and bond on a very different level. I am enjoying every minute of their growing up stage,” she concludes.