The #DanceForHappiness with Madhuri Dixit Nene!

Yet again, destiny brought me face to face with the person I adore the most in this industry - Madhuri Dixit Nene! - This time as a part of a contest - #DanceForHappiness organised by Tata Sky on their social media portals.

Being an enthusiast, I thought why not give it a try since there was no norm that I had to dance to be eligible ! Here's what my entry was like! :

The entry was liked by many Madhurian's around, shared, RT'd a lot....& eventually made me win the Golden chance to meet Madhuri Ma'am again! 

Reached the venue much before the actual time and amidst the set up going on I waited for the actual moment when I would be face to face with Madhuri Ma'am yet again! 4  LCD Monitors at the entry showcased my name as one of the winners, highlighting my entry. I could see entries of lot of other Madhuri fans I knew. A special mention to the super duper amazing Tata Sky's social media team which included Jennifer, Arjun and Dilpreeta primarily, who left no stone unturned to make me feel at ease and comfortable at the event.  I have won contests in the past but at times what you remember the most is how someone made you feel and this team made me feel really like a star who has won the privilege to meet a Diva! Take a bow Team Tata Sky! 

Once the other two winners, viz, Mr. Kamal from Jaipur , and Shristi from Mumbai ( who is already a dancer- was a contestant in DID 4! ) reached the venue, we were asked to give few bytes on video about how we felt at that point about the contest and meet that was going to happen!

We were made to sit on the sofa right next to the VIP's of the event. That was in itself overwhelming. As the show began, all 3 of us waited for the moment to arrive when we would get to go on the stage and meet Madhuri Dixit. This was NOT THE FIRST TIME I was meeting her.However, my heartbeats were equally as fast as they be at any Madhuri meets I have experienced in the past! 

Manish Paul, who has been my favorite anchor on Jhalak, was hosting the show. It was amazing to see his Pallu prem with Madhuri ma'am post she entered!  It was indeed a treat to watch them dance together- reminded me of the good old Jhalak days where I used to love MD and Manish's talks throughout the show!

Dressed in an amazing Yellow Salwar kameez, with her hair well tied MDN made a graceful entry. Seconds before her actual entry I had already seen her pic in the outfit as she posted it on Twitter! As she spoke about Tata Sky Dance Studios, I kept staring at her , waiting for my chance to go up there and talk to her. For a glimpse she looked at me sitting right on the front sofa & flashed that million-dollar-smile , which was enough to make me go shiver - WELL YEAH...YET AGAIN!

As Manish announced our names, we were asked to go on the stage and collect our HUGE CERTIFICATES, signed by Madhuri Ma'am and Pallavi Puri - the head of Tata Sky. She saw me on the stage and gave that  "oh-I-know-you " expression!  Haaye.....I wanted to tell her I have finished the Ek do teen counting and this was my 13th meet with her...And she still left me equally as enchanted!

We posed for the shutterbugs with the certificate. Once that was done, Manish announced that we could now go down. In my mind I thought- That's it?  I somehow gathered courage to ask Madhuri ma'am before I was leaving the stage -
" Ma'am can we not get to learn a step from you? ".  She instantly looked at Manish and said ... "Manish inko step sikhna hai...! " . Did I know what I was doing?  I AM COMPLETE NON-DANCER & I WANTED TO LEARN A DANCE STEP FROM MD - IT MEAN'T I HAD TO DANCE ON STAGE WITH HER ! The last I must've danced would have been after a lot of zabardasti by my best friend at my MBA Farewell- I am an absolute anti-social and non-party type person! She quickly handed over a mike in my hand and said please request me on mike! Trust me when the mike was in my hand, I wanted to say sooo much...soo much that I have never said in my last 12 meets..which included what Madhuri Dixit Nene meant to us fans with me representing all the Twitter Fanclubs - But all I said was "Can you please teach us a dance step? " :/   Maybe another Madhurian getting this chance of speaking on mike being next to Madhuri ma'am would make most of the chance- I am an idiot not to! Kya karun yaar...I always go lost whenever I meet her!

 I was very very apprehensive  after she agreed to teach the dance step! Infact I even told her- Ma'am I dont know anything! She was like - " Stay calm . Just follow me! " . Well I tried but I was too mesmerised by her magic to get any of the steps right! At a point I stopped, folded my hands and was just looking at how amazingly someone could dance! She had a smile throughout the act! It was not that I wanted the music to stop , nor was it that I wanted to do the dance! - as paradoxic as it sounds, that was the state of my mind.

But ,somewhere within I thought - Dancing is synonymous to Madhuri Dixit Nene and being her fan I need to respect that.  Maybe one fine day soon in the times to come, I would try to learn dancing - only for her! Dancing with Madhuri on the stage in front of the media is an experience I would never ever forget even though I am highly embarrassed with the way I am dancing when I look at the videos . Anyway, atleast I tried! It takes a lotsss of courage to be sporting enough to dance for an introvert and I am glad I asked her for teaching those steps!

I can now say to the world - I HAVE DANCED WITH MADHURI DIXIT -well dance kaisa bhi ho, she taught me, and that's what mattered! I promise maybe in few years when things in my personal life settle down, I would pukka try and learn dancing that too from DWM ! ;) I decided this only after I danced with her!

Look at me in this picture- You would know how lost I was!!!!!!!

After the event was over, I wanted to meet her again and atleast ask for a selfie - I HAVE NEVER HAD A SELFIE WITH HER- In none of those 12 previous meets!  She readily agreed and I quickly gave my phone in her hand and said you know I shiver so can you please click it? She took the phone and was checking the right light. We turned around- SHE CLICKED IT and gave the phone in my hand & left for her interviews. & Whoa! what do I see......! NONE OF THE TWO SELFIES HAD GOT SAVED ! :/ 2 AMAZING SELFIES CLICKED BY MADHURI DIXIT NENE ON MY PHONE DID NOT SAVE!!!!!! Enough reason for me to sue HTC ? I didn't know what to do then! I decided to wait until her interviews ended. Maybe I would get to meet her one more time after it ?

Waiting for almost an hour I somewhere in my mind knew that maybe I would get another moment with the diva if she sees me. What even a minute of conversation with her means to us fans is best known only to us!  -  No non-MD fan can ever understand this!

Zoom tv reporters had lined up an interview with MD and Doc which was supposed to be on the X'mas theme. Coincidentally,I had a small caricatured card for them which I was carrying. I suggested the reporter to incorporate it in her interview and she readily agreed. Once they saw the card in the interview, the reporter pointed out at me saying I was the one who created it.Looking around at me, MD told her "Ohh Him....! That's Nitesh!!! "

Post the interview, since both  Doc and MD had noticed me, they made it  a point to speak to me since I was around. Both congratulated & thanked me for coming. I told MD about the unsaved selfies and she sweetly said " Ohh okk chalo lets take another pic! " . If she wanted, she could refuse for the pic - I have met her 12 times before- that was a reason enough. But she didn't ...Just because...she is Madhuri Dixit Nene - :- )

This #DanceForHappiness event would remain indelible to me all my life as I did something that I couldn't dare even dreaming of- Danced with Madhuri Dixit! I am not the best dancer around...But I am a huge Madhuri fan..and would remain one forever...!  Ending on this note with just one request to MD  which I even screamed about when she was leaving  : "PLEASE DO A MOVIE! "...That would make us not just Dance for Happiness but also keep our smiles intact throughout! ;)

#MadhuriMeetsMadhuri - Another Dream Comes True!

They say you make idols only of Gods- who is perceivably immortal. In  the fast growing world of today, not  everyone follows that ideology. Infact, idolizing humans by  making miniature replicas of them, to keep it as an everlasting memory has been an all new fascination to many. And I was one among those fascinated. Not many companies do this- Infact, From what I researched, there was just one company in India- THE ULTIMATE KOPIE ( ), which had a  Facebook page, and had recently initiated doing so. I loved the concept totally. Infact, I loved it soo much that I decided to make one of these replicas for a Best Friends birthday- & within 1 months time, the same was ready! I was very happy with the final output and was surprised that even hand made art could have such perfection! 

Few months from then, the idea of gifting these replica dolls to my favorite actress  - MADHURI DIXIT NENE for her birthday this year, struck me ( Have planned her birthday gifts for the last 3 consecutive years successfully ) . Was it feasible? What if they got it wrong? Money doesn’t grow on trees!- How would I manage arranging the money for the plan I had in mind?  I was very certain that if I am planning a replica for her, it had to be not just ONE..But many..defining different stages of her career! But, would Madhuri like it? Moreover, would it even reach it? – That’s the way my brain functioned with those questions popping up in my head every single day. Finally, I told to myself, I need to start doing something if I wish to work this out. Thought, why not share the idea with some fans I knew?  I remember the first LONG message I typed in all the Whatsapp groups related to Madhuri of which I was a part… Few reactions were super positive…few did not react at all. Didn’t find any negativity thankfully. That’s where I thought maybe the idea is good enough.  Since it was a  big gift, it required cash contributions too as a major part. I wanted to make it a rule that I would take money ONLY from WORKING PROFESSIONALS who are MADHURI FANS and WISH TO CONTRIBUTE without any COERCION. I still remember AMNA AL OTHMAN, who is a fan from KUWAIT,’s first reaction being that She would contribute  as much as she could and cash was not a constraint. She insisted that through Western Union cash transactions are easy and that I should allow her to contribute. Since she was the first one to agree, I couldn’t say no accept the amount. Post that, there was no stopping.

 Many fans themselves volunteered to be ok with contributing cash. Some from abroad who were students wished to contribute but I couldn’t take money from such & told them rather support the initiative we begin for this  gift on Twitter.  In the next 3 days, a group on whatsapp was created with all the cash contributors and  co- admin of  @MadhuriEmpress Fanclub-  Bhagyashree Kulkarni . The next challenge was to get the cash arranged ASAP since the  creation of the gift required atleast a month of  hard work by the creators.  By Gods grace I arranged the entire cash in-time, included my contribution, and gave a  green signal for the gift to be made!  We zeroed upon 3  different looks highlighting different stages of Madhuri’s career- Movies, Jhalak & Dance With Madhuri!

Next  stage was to create a buzz and It has always been my dream to work with every single FanClub of MDN together as a group and this time I made sure I would strive to do this! There was absolute co-operation by other FC’s   @MadhuriD_Tweets  & @AmaniAnusha ..not once did they question my  foresight!..We built a strong positive team to move ahead..Now what we wanted was a  name to give for this entire campaign & after numerous discussions  we zeroed upon  using the hashtag # MadhuriMeetsMadhuri for our gift!! The enthusiasm with which we began posting stuff related to this surprise made Madhuri fans go ga-ga!..We trended  on the first day of launching the hashtag!!!!!

I wanted to make sure every supporter was acknowledged and hence thought of coming up with a booklet-cum-card, which would have been given to MD along with the gift. I left this to be entirely designed by Amani Anusha and coordinated by Avinash and Aakrati. As expected, they did a phenomenal job!!

Jumping on directly to the D-Day now…Fast forwarding a tad bit too much as I understand people would otherwise stop reading this out of boredom !

The Replicas……Check..! MDN Birthday Card…Check…!.. Camera..Check.! Perfect Outfit..Check…!

I was all set to reach the launch of #DanceWithMadhuri App, where we were invited by Madhuri’s Team, because of the efforts we put in on Twitter, so as to present our gift to her! THIS WAS THE DAY NOT JUST ME, BUT ALL MADHURIANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GIFT IN ONE WAY OR THE OTHER WERE WAITING FOR!!...Our DREAM was about to come true!!!!

2 other Madhurians accompanied me at the venue- one being Palak, who is a huge MD fan from Rajkot, and the other being my  first ever MD-related friend and Co-admin of Empress FC, Maddy Smita!Post the launch event, we were told to wait outside in the hotel lobby & were told that Madhuri Ma’am would be there to see us shortly. We waited impatiently since the launch event was already over and we were scared that what if Ma’am goes away without seeing our gift maybe because she would be exhausted! A 1000 thoughts, zillion jitters & butterflies later, we saw her walking towards us.

I could very well freeze  at that very moment! What began as a dream was about to become a reality!!!!- Yes we were about to reveal to  The Madhuri Dixit Nene- what #MadhuriMeetsMadhuri was!!!-This was  THE Moment we were waiting for!!! As she moved forward, she saw and instantly recognized me. She greeted all of us. I moved my hand forward to wish her for her birthday in advance. She readily put her hand in mine and we shook hands! Might appear as a small moment to many but this was something that I was gonna cherish was a lifetime!- I shook hands with her, wished her for her Birthday, 2 days prior to it..This has never happened in the past years..and would be recorded in the history of our fandom for her, for this lifetime. Quickly post she greeted Palak and Maddy Smita, I put the gift in her hand and told her to guess what it could be! She began thinking, trying to figure out what it is!...Guessing a little, she said, post I hinted, I said it has something to do with 4 stages of your career, she  stated, “ 4 Stages..Uhmm..maybe 4 films of mine or something? ! “. I insisted her to try a little harder.She thought a little and said like a curious kid. “ No ..now I am opening this..! My brain is not working at the moment! “. Then, we began helping her open the gift. The packings were tough since the gift was delicate. Opening the gift wrapper, and finding a lot more packing inside, she exclaimed, “ Arre itna packing? Arre Deva!!!! Help me unpack it now!”  All of us, along with her team began helping in opening  the  gift. Then I removed the first replica, packed in white plastic, and told her to open it. As she opened it, she said “ Ohhh my God!Look at that!! That’s a lovely  doll!!!”. It was the Jhalak replica. I then asked her if she remembered where that look was from. She struggled a bit, but couldn’t figure that out. I myself revealed it to her that the replica was of her JHALAK 7 Finale look & then she remembered!!!!!!!!!! She showed the doll to her staff with soo much excitement &  told them to place it  carefully  so that they don’t break. I remember her saying “ Its very delicate!!!!”

Next up was the Dance With Madhuri doll seeing which she was yet again very surprised & happy. As always, I shivered a bit around her while I unpacked the gift. She told me while I opened one of the replicas “ Please be careful!!Aaram se” .I could see she cared for the gift we gave her. This was more than what I could have wished for! Palak stopped me while I was unpacking the last replica and asked MD if she could guess which could the last one be. She said, “ Uhmmmm Didi Tera Devar! “ . Smita noticed that MD has seen a bit of the open sides of the replica and thus guessed . To this, MD replied . “ Haan thodi si cheating kardi maine :D  “ . She was in absolute awe of all 4 replicas from what I noticed!

To add on to this, Doctor Nene joined her there while we still spoke. I handed over the Birthday card stating that this was AMANI ANUSHA’s design. She exclaimed with a huge smile , “ Ohh Amani & Anusha!!”. She randomly opened some pages of the card.She saw the #MadhuriReactions page and pointing at a particular reaction pic, she said :  “ Oh My God..Look at me there!.. “. To this , I replied, “ Yes ma’am, those are the trademark #MadhuriReactions made by AA! “. Her eyes looked as excited as that of a curious young kid who gets a chocolate he/she loves! 

She looked at Doctor and said “Did you see what they have gifted me!?” . Doctor stated that he just saw them and he too really liked the same ! He asked me where did I make them from and where I got this idea !I told him that I got it while browsing the net :D . He also asked us if we are liking the DWM App & we answered that yes we loved the same!

Meanwhile, she was asking others their names & then I interrupted saying, “Don’t know if you know” me? , teasing her with those words, like always. And she replied , yet again with that cute expression, like last time , saying “ U…noo I don’t think I know you!!! U must’be some Nitesh-Ritesh..I don’t knw :P “

Tell me one celebrity who can talk so openly with fans- I bet there just cannot be one! No one can match the nature this angel has- There is truly no one like her-and would never be! 

Next, I wanted to make the moment a memory for not just me, Palak and Smita, but also all the contributors and the creators. MD had no qualms giving an autograph on both the collages I had made for this. While signing the autograph for the creator-The Ultimate Kopie’s team- ( Avleen Kaur ), she asked Doctor, “ Arre figurines cha spelling kaay asto? !  F..I..G..U..R..? “  & Doctor replied answering the same for her! I found it very sweet of her to ask that question to him…Was such a simple & sweet convo! Even though we fans were around, it never made her conscious to casually converse with her hubby. This sweetness & down to earth nature of hers leaves us all spellbound everytime we meet her! Truly, there cannot be another Madhuri Dixit!. :

Before leaving, I wanted one last pic of hers with the Contributors collage, which she readily agreed for . Though the pic was NOT clicked as expected by the person whom I gave it to, I was very happy to see her be ready inspite of  having the urgency to leave since the event had wrapped up. While we were being pictured, I said to her " I am sorry I am demanding too much! ". Post the pictures were taken, she replied to that saying, " Its totally OKK Nitesh! .." ..And before she made a final move, she turned back again and said, "...But remember...To have patience...! PATIENCE is a VIRTUE! " And I agreed to the same! ...& She left from the entry door, yet again making me totally enchanted, and head over heels in awe of this persona!
Once again, I was successful in living my dreams, and gifting her what I  had  thought of, with strong support from soo many #Madhurians! I thank every single one who ever tweeted for #MadhuriMeetsMadhuri, from the bottom of my heart. You guys made this possible!- I could do nothing alone- Trust me!! On my journey this time I made a number of new friends with fellow MD Fans, got to know a lot new people and tried to spread as much happiness as I could!

What makes this blog extra special is the date when I am uploading it! 15^TH MAY 2015 –

Meanwhile, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADHURI is trending worldwide!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADHURI!!!-  HOPE YOU LIKED OUR SMALL SURPRISE!  :)

The Pic MD Tweeted says it all! I JUST COULDN'T BE HAPPIER!!!!!

'Shehr-E-Zaat' & The Teachings Within...

I have hardly seen any Pakistani tele series in the past. But ever since I began watching Humsafar, which aired on Zindagi Channel, I fell so much in love with Mahira Khan's performance, that I couldn't help myself from googling about her other shows, and eventually reading about Shehr-e-zaat, and the inherit debates associated with the show, knowing of which, I decided to watch the series online and that remained to be one of the best decisions I made.Here's this long due blog post describing how I fell absolutely in love with the concept of this beautiful Pakistani show- SHEHR-E-ZAAT!

SHEHR-E-ZAAT refers to 'City of One's self '.

The show portrays the life-story of Falak ( played effortlessly by Mahira Khan) , who defines 'beauty with brains' in terms of every action she undertakes. Until one fine day, when she falls in love with a face carved by her!Falak's nani , ( played by Samina Peerzada ) is a spiritual believer, living a simple routine life, who believes there is noone beyond Allah for any individual to love!

As luck would have it, Falak coincidentally meets  Salman, whom she feels has a face very very identical to the face she once carved. She gets infatuated  and Salman becomes the world to her! Salman is a difficult person. Falak's love remains to be a one-sided obsession inspite of Salman paying no heed to her actions.Eventually, she wins his heart  & marries him. But life does not remain a bed of roses always! Slowly, Falak realises that Salman has started neglecting her. One fine day, he confesses to her that he is in love with her office worker Tabinda. Fuming with anger, Falak decides to pour acid on the other female's face. She is shell-shocked to understand that  the female is an arrogant ugly woman who is known for her cunning ways!

The crux of the story lies post this point, where Falak's nani makes her understand how life is not always how we want it to be, and how Allah (God) , is the ONLY one, who can be considered one's own!..How God test's every individual at different of life, only to ultimately make them realise that it is just Him who one can look upto!-He is not just the Creator, but justifiably, also the one who has the right to be looked upon by his Creation in moments of Happiness or Sorrow & Only with the help of God can one find his/her own-self at peace and harmony.

A sequence on the show where Falak drenches herself in muddy waters on a beach, and screams out how she is in search of her own-self  & she pleads God  for the same , is applaud worthy. It not only defines what a brilliant performer Mahira Khan is, but also highlights the high-point of the series!

The situation faced by Falak maybe a slightly more complex one,however, even in everyday life, I believe similar situations are faced by lakhs of people on a daily basis! With emotions rise expectations, which are bound to be broken someday or the other! Have been a firm believer of the 'Expect nothing, lose nothing' philosophy, which in a way teaches me that the only one I could rely upon for remaining happy is myself and my God! As philosophical as this sounds, sooner or later, everyone realises this in their lives! In no way do I mean that I do not believe in Love or I do not count upon people. I surely do, but doesn't life truly become much simpler when you discover the city of one-self placed within your own hearts- the city which is ruled by only and only the one who created you- God! Try talking to him someday , you may not get answers, but you would surely be at content with yourself! :)

There are very few shows which  I would never ever forget. Shehr-e-zaat joins the list of those. If you liked or agree to any of thoughts as mentioned above, I am sure the show would be a treat to watch for you! :)

You could watch the entire series ( 19 episodes)  here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R00hQQu1OD4&index=3&list=PL5456F557E2A11B60