4-Month-Pregnant Madhuri Dixit ‘Struggled With Fever’ During Dola Re Shoot, Reveals Dancer

New Delhi:

Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan dancing to Dola Re Dola in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2002 film Devdas is one of the most iconic moments on celluloid. Choreographed by Saroj Khan, it remains hugely popular. A crew member, Rubina Khan, however, shares a behind-the-scenes story of filming the sequence when Madhuri Dixit was four months pregnant and was often dizzy with fever.

What’s Happening

• In conversation with Bollywood Thikana, Rubina Khan said, “It took 17 days to shoot that song. Rehearsals happened for at least a month. We rehearsed separately, and the lead actors rehearsed separately. There’s a step in which Madhuri ma’am turns and sits down. 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 added, “She also had a fever at that time. She struggled a lot. She’d never ask for a step to be changed. Whatever Masterji said was set in stone. Newer artists would still tell Masterji a step was tough and ask if it could be changed. But Masterji would seldom change a step she had suggested. She insisted on doing the same step anyhow.”
• Furthermore, Rubina revealed how even Saroj Khan was extremely unwell: “She was in a lot of pain, but she would lie down on the floor and give instructions. She shot for 15 days.”

About Devdas

The 2002 film, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, starred Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit in the lead roles. Over the years, it has built a huge fan following for its music, visuals, performances and emotional storytelling.

Devdas is based on the 1917 novel of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Before Bhansali’s version, filmmaker Bimal Roy adapted the story in 1955 with Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Vyjayanthimala.

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