Ladies and gentlemen, we present Madhuri Dixit live from New York. She’s here in the Big Apple for the Big B’s world tour. But BT managed to get Big Bytes from the Big Diva before she went on stage. She laughs radiantly, expressing excitement at grabbing centrestage after long, “I just love being on stage, I am a trained classical dancer, and dance comes naturally to me. I try to do riyaaz regularly, but I have two small kids. Even they dance with me.” She adds, “I was also watching Aishwarya perform after long. I must say, Ash has matured so much as a dancer since we last danced together for Devdas. She’s getting better and better.”

And sharing the stage with Mr Bachchan? As good as sharing screen-space? The two superstars haven’t worked together since the Bade Miya Chotte Miya song cameo. “We have tried to work together for years, it hasn’t been very successful. This tour was the closest it could get,” she states sadly.

While we gab on, I grab a glimpse of Sriram Nene, Madhuri’s better half, sitting at close distance, like a proud, protective and unperturbed partner. So far-flung from filmdom, yet, living a blissful married life with one of India’s most beautiful movie stars. With her American born kids, Bollywood is a fairly alien concept. “My kids had come to see our show in LA, with my whole family in tow.

They love to watch me dance. My younger one loves it more, but my older kept blushing, and was slightly shy on seeing me all dressed up backstage. My kids are young, and our Hindi films are slightly long, they don’t have so much of an attention span,” she says, with that tinkle of motherly pride. They say that showbiz, glamour and the arc lights are addictive. You can’t live with it, and you can’t live without it. “I love my art. I don’t enjoy anything else that goes with it. Or the limelight, as you would call it. I love my craft, my dancing. I will never lose that,” says MD, without batting those long lovely lashes.

With the industry’s biggest banners pursuing her for the next big ‘re-comeback’, she can lose herself to temptation. She’s human. And a superstar, too. “I do get tempted. But my priorities are in place. I have to make sure what I do is the best,” she firmly replies. Basking in the freedom of an American life is a privilege; still this is home away from home. Someday Madhuri Dixit would want to go back to her old-world, her good ‘ol Mumbai, and the new-age Bollywood. She disagrees, and denies in the same breath, “When I was growing I led a normal life, even after I became an actress, my family life didn’t change much. Here in America, too, I lead a normal life. I walk around, shop, and do groceries, like anybody else. I love and enjoy the anonymity.”