Mumbai: There are several stars in Hindi film industry born with dazzling beauty. But there are also actors who look pretty after putting on some makeup.
One such actress is Madhuri Dixit, who enjoys all the success primarily due to her sheer hardwork, secondarily for her looks. Long before Madhuri’s debut, make-up artist Pandhari Juker spotted her.
Today is Madhuri Dixit’s birthday.
Madhuri started her film career in 1984 with Rajshri Production’s film Abodh opposite Bengali rookie Tapas Paul. Madhuri’s simple look didn’t fetch many lead roles. There’s an interesting anecdote related to Subhash Ghai.
“Once Subhash Ghai had taken Madhuri Dixit for a song for the film Karma. When I saw Madhuri, I told Subhash ‘why don’t you cast this girl as a heroin?’ Subhash refused, saying this girl is very simple and does not have an actress charm.
“After this I did Madhuri’s makeup and showed it to Subhash. On seeing the actress, Subhash gave her the lead role in the next film,” Pandhari had told.
Without any prior knowledge of the trade, Pandhari entered the world of make-up in 1948 on recommended by famous actress Nargis. After learning the nuances of makeup from Baba Vardhan — the master in the trade that time — Juker further obtained a Diploma in Makeup Artist from Moscow, Russia.
Pandhari Juker died at the age of 88 in February 2020.