Madhuri Dixit turned 52 today, A toast to completion of her 35 years in Bollywood.

Madhuri Dixit, reigned supreme in Bollywood for decades, flooring audiences with memorable acting and dance performances in movie after movie. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Filmfare Awards. In 2008, the Government of India awarded her with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour of the country. 

Dance was Madhuri Dixit’s childhood passion, and she became a professional Kathak dancer after starting training at the age of three. Remembering her start at dancing she said, "I received a scholarship as a Kathak dancer when I was nine. I even remember that it was due to a dance performance that the first time my name had appeared in the paper. I was seven or eight years old at that time and had performed at the Guru Purnima festival. And there was a journalist who was there and he had written this article saying that ‘this little girl stole the show’ – something like that. I was over the moon. So dance gave me a sense of achievement. Of worth." Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj, who choreographed Madhuri in Devadas, termed her as best dancer in Bollywood.

After making her acting debut in the 1984 drama Abodh, Dixit had her first commercial success with the 1988 action romance Tezaab. She went on to establish herself as a leading actress of Bollywood by starring in several top-grossing productions, including Ram Lakhan (1989), Tridev (1989), Kishen Kanhaiya (1990), Dil (1990), Saajan (1991), Beta (1992), Khalnayak (1993), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), Raja (1995) and Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) — and received critical recognition for her work in Prem Pratigyaa (1989), Parinda (1989), Prahaar (1991), Anjaam (1994), Mrityudand (1997), Pukar (2000), Lajja (2001) and Devdas (2002). Dixit returned to film acting in 2007 with the musical Aaja Nachle, and she worked intermittently in the next decade, starring in the black comedy Dedh Ishqiya (2014) and crime drama Gulaab Gang (2014). Her first Marathi film release was the comedy drama Bucket List (2018), and her highest-grossing release came with the adventure comedy Total Dhamaal (2019).

At the peak of her career, Madhuri was the highest paid female actor. It is said that she received a fee of Rs 2.7 crore for her role in Hum Aapke Hain Koun, more than what her co-actor, Salman Khan was paid. One of her biggest and notable fan was Famous Indian painter M.F Husain was so mesmerized by Madhuri Dixit that he watched her blockbuster film ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ 67 times. He also booked an entire theatre for her comeback flick, ‘Aaja Nachle’. Madhuri became his muse, inspiring a string of paintings and even a movie, Gaja Gamini.

From her first breakthrough as Mohini in Tezaab, dancing on Ek-do-teen to her Chandramukhi in Devdas with her iconic Dance numbers and most recently her performance in Kalak, it would be suffice to  say she has literally danced her way in Bollywood and in the hearts of millions of Bollywood fans.