Talking of N Chandra, why did she do the comme ci comme ca Wajood? Hasn't the theme of obsession been done to death? Also how was it working with N Chandra almost a decade after Tezaab? Wasn't the Kadak ke toot gayee number a last-minute addition to allure the crowds?

Her voice takes off a swirling musical flight. She trills, "I was raw as sushi when I did Tezaab. I had a lot at stake. N Chandra directed me and I acted. Tezaab was my it's-now-or-never film. (Laughs) Wajood was my live-and-let-live film. Now and then, I would offer suggestions, some of which were accepted and the others rejected.

"In any case, Wajood wasn't just about Nana Patekar's obsession for me. And the Kadak ke toot gayee song wasn't a last-minute addition. It was a part of the script from the very beginning and comes on at a crucial point. Okay, so I play the role of a journalist. Does that mean a journalist can't dance at a function? See, I'm an actress but I've also studied micro-biology. So there, the twain can meet."

Madhuri always seems so cool. No wonder she's ultra-composed when I ask her about Indra Kumar's Mann. Was she miffed that her pet director opted for Manisha Koirala? She sallies, "A journalist asked me why I'm not in Mann and I told her that the question should be directed to Indu not me. Next I know that sour-grapes quote has been attributed to me on the cover of her magazine. Ab main kya karoon? Sorry to sound blase, but I'm above all this. I can't be bothered if I make an actor or co-star insecure and he or she says nasty things about me."

She's gone out of her way to accommodate the film produced by Rakeshnath (Rikku, her secretary). Which is curious, since Rikku's productions, like Dil Tera Aashiq, Yaarana and Mohabbat bit the dust. Madhuri ripostes, "Dil Tera Aashiq was meant to be a remake of the Shammi Kapoor film Professor. Would you call that a bad film? No. Similarly, I don't think Mohabbat was as bad as it was made out to be. It recovered its investment. I always tell Rikkuji that maybe we made a mistake in selecting the directors. David Dhawan should have directed Dil Tera Aashiq and Lawrence D'Souza should have made Yaarana. "Problems are unavaoidable," she elaborates, "Things go out of control. You can't help it. I remember I got so much flak when it was first announced that Reemaji (Reema Rakeshnath) would write Saajan. But as soon as Saajan did well, all the critics and sceptics shut up."

Like Sridevi, Madhuri too, has been impervious to the fluctuating fads and trends. Her star quality has remained intact even after 13 years in the public eye. When asked about her years in showbiz and especially her provocative remark at the Filmfare Awards, when she dedicated her Best Actress trophy for Dil To Pagal Hai to all her critics who had asked her to pack up her bags - any reference to Manisha Koirala was of course, purely Unintentional - she laughs. "When I dedicated the award to my critics, it was just a spontaneous thing. Honestly, I hadn't planned to say that at all. It's the media and a certain section of the industry which keeps harping that I've been on the scene for so many years. Sorry to disappoint you guys, but I'm going to be around for many more years to come."

Any reference to competition with the new breed of heroines is sharply eschewed. All she'll volunteer is, "Every two years, there are new girls on the block. And they're compared to me. The magazines write, `Move over Madhuri.' This happens to me all the time. I refuse to be treated like cattle with you media guys assigning heroines numbers on collar belts. Seriously, nothing's changed. (Laughs) Only, the names of the girls keep changing.

"It's annoying when some people write you off, saying things like `She's finished.' That's cruel. You can't write off all my years of hard work, my jubilees, my performances, my awards. It's sickening when the media treats you like a wind-up doll. I resent that," she fumes. "I'm egoistic about my work. I know I'm competent at what I do. I don't sleepwalk through my films, I don't come late on the sets, I don't shortchange my producers and directors. Most importantly, I've never disrespected my profession. Isn't that good enough?

"Sure, I've made mistakes. I've done some awful films, too. But for God's sake, who hasn't? I'm not blaming anyone or passing the buck. Let me just say when I wake up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror, I don't wince. I think I've lead a straight and honest life. I'm not answerable to anyone."

When she talks, it's essentially about work. "What's so important about which school I went to or what my hobbies are?," she wants to know. "Why should what I do in my house or bedroom make national news? What does any of that have to do with acting? Nothing!"

It's difficult not to remark that the women she played in Dil To Pagal Hai and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! seemed to suffer from arrested development. Pooja of DTPH and Nisha of HAHK were hardly feisty or in touch with the '90s. Instead, they repressed their desires for their families. As a leading lady of the Hindi film industry, couldn't she propagate more progressive values? Madhuri responds, "Look, I'm an entertainer. I believe that films are a director's medium and I leave it at that. I'm not into any kind of handebaazi. In Dil To Pagal Hai, Pooja was special because of her ability to make sacrifices. She owed that much to Akshay Kumar's family. They had picked her up as an orphan and given her a home. I think that struck a chord with the audience. "In real life, if I had to make a choice between my family and a lover, I'd naturally go for my family. They've nursed me through illness, they've stood by me through thick and thin. They are the very reason of my existence. Men will come and go. Tu nahin aur sahi," she chuckles.

And adds, "Know something? I get really bugged when mothers of our heroes when they say that they would never allow their sons to marry a heroine. Excuse me... what does that say about their son in the first place?" Ask her if she's missed the bus and she fumes, "Bus baba bas. Next you'll ask me if I'm still waiting for Mr Right and all that drivel. Seriously, I'm just waiting for a man who'll be my companion for life. He doesn't have to be a Greek God or a multi-millionaire." She is completely disarming when she declares, "I'm sure keeping a marriage together is hard work. Marriage is like looking after a little garden, you have to nurture it. My sisters and their husbands argue... everyone who's married argues. But they'll always be together. Know why? Because they love each other more unconditionally. That's why." In a lighter vein, she chortles, "Guys who meet me just freeze. My family jokes that since the press has already married me off half a dozen times, they've stopped looking for a groom for me. House full ho gaya!"