After an unsuccessful year in 1996, Madhuri Dixit appeared as Pooja in Yash Chopra’s Dil To Pagal Hai (1997). The film was a major national success, both critically and commercially, and Dixit won her fourth Filmfare Best Actress Award.[3] In that same year, Dixit starred in Prakash Jha’s critically acclaimed Mrityudand. The film was known for straddling the boundary between a commercial and an art film. It won the Best Feature Film award at the Cinéma Tout Ecran in Geneva and the Bangkok Film Festival. Dixit’s performance in the film landed her the Best Actress award at the annual Star Screen Awards.

Dixit is not only known for her acting skills, but for her dancing skills as well. Her dance sequences, accompanying famous Bollywood songs such as Ek Do Teen (from Tezaab), Bada Dukh Deenha (from Ram Lakhan), Dhak Dhak (from Beta), Chane Ke Khet Mein (from Anjaam), Choli Ke Peechhe (from Khalnayak), Akhiyan Milaun (from Raja), Piya Ghar Aya (from Yaarana), Key Sera (from Pukar), Maar Daala (from Devdas), among others, have received abundant critical acclaim.

In 2002, she starred in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas with Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. Her performance was applauded and earned her a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. The film attracted worldwide attention and was featured at the Cannes Film Festival.[4]

The following year a film named after her, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon!, was released[5] in which a woman (played by Antara Mali) aspires to become the new Madhuri Dixit by trying her luck in the Bollywood industry.