Madhuri Dixit, of the radiant smile and twinkling toes, turns 41 today. The 'Dhak Dhak' girl, as she was often called, ruled the roost at Bollywood through the late Eighties and the Nineties. She was one of those few stars blessed with the lethal combination of being a fine actress, a gorgeous looker and a fantastic dancer. In a suitable tribute to her talent and contribution to Hindi cinema, The Indian Government awarded her the Padma Shri this year.

Madhuri began her career in 1984 with a Rajshree film called Abodh. The film did not do particularly well and it was only four later that she came to be recognised as a force, following the release of Tezaab.The film was success and so was Madhuri. After that came a series of films like Ram Lakhan, Parinda, Tridev, Kishen Kanhaiya, Dil, Saajan, Beta, Khalnayak, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and Raja, Dil To Paagal Hai and Devdas, all of which did very well at the box office and established her as a star to reckon with. In between, she also worked with director Prakash Jha and did Mrityudand with him. Her fiery performance in the film was much lauded by critcs. Her list of directors include the bigwigs of the industry like Yash Chopra, Prakash Jha, Subhash Ghai, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sooraj Barjatiya, Inder Kumar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. She has worked with all the leading actors of her time as well Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, and Akshay Kumar.

Just like her films, Madhuri's dances in those films too has reached an iconic. Nobody could do the jhatkas and matkas quite like her. And yet at the same time, she could combine a rare grace and artistry in her dance movements. Some of the more famous of them being, 'Ek Do Teen (Tezaab), Bada Dukh Diya (Ram Lakhan), Dhak Dhak (Beta) Chana Ke Khet Main (Anjaam) Choli Ke Peechhe (Khalnayk), Akhiyan Milaun (Raja), Piya Ghar Aya (Yaarana), Key Sera (Pukar) and Maar Daala (Devdas). Her beauty had many admirers, one of them being the famous painter M.F. Hussain. She became his muse and he painted a series of painting on her besides making a film called Gaja Gamini, in which Madhuri acted.

The Madhuri magic still endures, even though she is married and a mother of two now. Having semi retired from films, the actress made a comeback last year with Yash Raj's Aaja Nachle. Her magic was the same, the dancing skills too were in place, but the film unfortunately bombed at the box office. Maybe she will do another film and maybe she won't. But it will not affect her status as the 'Dhak Dhak' girl. They really don't make them like her anymore. On the ocassion of her birthday, Movietalkies would like to say "Happy Birthday Madhuri".