Thread by @manishgaekwad

A #MadhuriDixit appreciation thread via #MumtazAskari.

Hindu-Muslim behen-behen type through their communal love…I mean common love of Orange-coloured dresses.

Say syncretic ishstyle. 🧡🧡🧡

I would have said bhagwa or gerua instead of orange
syncretism but you know how some colour names are patented by...khair...moving on...

“Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow,” said Wassily Kandinsky.

Google kar lo who he is.

This painting is by Leighton.

Waise Madhuri and Mumtaz wore these colours way, way more than most of their contemporaries to bring humans closer to them…on-screen tak bas.

Indians are happy to dance to the tune of anyone in an orange dress. Hai na? The babas, the bhabhis...the silky flags😎

Remember Mumtaz's (Mumu as she was affectionately called) shimmy-shimmy fish-drape orange saree in Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche (Brahmachari).

Oscar-winner Bhanu Rajopadhye Athaiya designed it...because that's one colour a brahmachari cannot resist...

And others have paid tributes to it…#SonamKapoor #PriyankaChopra

Pehle thoda context on the colour O R A N G E.

Athaiya said Mumtaz’s dress was one of her best designs in her book.

Along with her costumes for Waheeda Rehman in Reshma Aur Shera (note the generous use of the colour orange or its shades through the spectrum)

And the Amrapali dress that Vyjayanthimala immortalised in Neel Gagan Ki Chaaon Mein – orange again!

So now coming to Madhuri’s costume in Kalank, the orange outfit has its origins in believe-it-or-imagine: Mumtaz’s shared fondness for it.

Let’s see a side-by-side of their matching-matching outfits.

Mumtaz was in a lot of b/w films as a ‘stunt’ heroine with Dara Singh.

She was noticed as a seductress in Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulfon Ka Andhera (Mere Sanam).

The zulfein burn with an auburn/orange tint as does her am tempted to say gold-flake outfit.

Madhuri’s beginning in films was with her frolicking in red/yellow ghagras in such films as Abodh and Uttar Dakshin, but after her popularity in Tezaab, she wanted to channel the orange outfit.

Probably Dixit's first mujra: In this song Bada Dukh Deena (Ram Lakhan), also probably her first Lata Mangeshkar playback, Dixit figured out that she should wear an orange outfit (notice the ghagra design and styling is Amprali-ish) for a hit number.

Just like Mumu…umm…Mumtaz did in the song Aa Dance Karein (Khandan) right after Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulfon.

Mumtaz’s gold fascination was going ochre…yes hang on…we are getting to orange in a bit...

And here is how when Mumu was saying aa dance karein, Mads (shall we call her Mads?) was turning it into a Dhak-dhak dance in full-blown…full-blown orange bloom.

But before her dhak-dhak, she wore a yellow/gold saree in a ‘garden vareli’ ishtyle in Pyar Kabhi Kam Nahi Karna (Pratigya) shot in a garden like the one where Mumu was saying Aa Dance Karein…moving on…

In the 90s, Mads had a fixed colour palette after the Ek Do Teen garish pink dress.

In the songs of Dil and Kishen Kanhaiyya she stuck to lurid shades of pink but switched to Orange after Dhak-dhak.

Barring Humko Aajkal Hai (Sailaab) in the early 90s.

She wears a canary yellow choli against a fiery orange sunset.

Blending or standing out against the hot pink flashes of Ek Do Teen?

Arre, we have to return to Mumu first.

So after ochre, she went for maroon lined with a distinct orange border…who cares right?

She does.

It deepens when wet and stands out…see for yourself

While Mads was still in the ‘garden bhareli’ stage in this orange dhoti-pants drape or should we say a salmon-orange outfit for her Salman Saajan?

The dress precedes the dhak-dhak outfit.

Mads has Mora Piya Ghar Aaya (Yaraana) in a circus-tent orange ghagra (we’ll get to that in a bit)

For which Mumu has Aaj Sakhi Ri Mora Piya Ghar Aaya (Ram Aur Shyam) in yellow/orange ghagra.

Hai na matching-matching?

She also wears orange in O Balam Tere Pyar Ki Thandi Aag Mein for piya Dilip saab.

Aage padhte hain…matlab aage badhte hain.

Mads ka orange ghagra-chunni in Prem Deewane.

Mads is calling Jackie dada Mad (Prem Deewane).

Mumu is doing the same thing in a near-to-orange-but-closer-to-butter cream yellow, calling Manoj Kumar an enemy in Aye Dushman-E-Jaan (Patthar Ke Sanam).

Everyone in an orange outfit is going to go MAD sooner or later, said everyone.

Ok let’s just get on with the dhamakedaar songs from the leading ladies now, hai na?

Bindiya Chamkegi, Choori Khankegi (Do Raaste).

Mumtaz dazzles in her orange saree like a Meera-in-a-bhajan avatar, umm odd analogy but watch.

Madhuri is certainly not singing a bhajan to counter a chamkeeli orange bindi, with her shinier maang tika and orange chania choli in Choli Ke Peeche (Khalnayak).

So when Mads is asking what’s behind the ornate…I mean orange choli…Mumu is saying what’s the hurry in Itni Jaldi Na Karo (Aadmi Aur Insaan).

She dresses in an orange LBD. Full sass. Also see the stunning LBD in the song Zindagi Ittefaq Hai

Mumu in an orange saree also takes a boat trip with Kaka to slow down. In the 70s, nothing could rattle her bouffant wig.

Here, she throws caution to the winds. Notice the Mumtaz drape.

This is the iconic orange saree that defined Mumtaz. Borrowing from the idea of the Santhali saree without pleats.

Athaiya added a zip on the side for Mumtaz to slip it on to reduce the fuss.

And this is the fiery yellow (or mango orange?) dress most girls told their darzi to sew for the haldi-kumkum rasam…attending someone else’s ceremony hopefully.

Mumu in a mujra. The colour has to be ORANGEY!

This is one of her most popular dance numbers.

She also won her only Best Actress Filmfare Award for this.

No stranger to awards herself, after HAHK..!

What more could La Dixit achieve?

She did bring the piya home in this orange outfit that also flashes the safety orange colour.

Aap bhi dekho.

Mumu’s piya was also coming home in this Tere Mere Sapne number.

How lovely she looks, cooks, and oh well…hope Dev saab cleaned the utensils at least.

Mads then went to South Africa in an orange outfit not out of place in an exotic clan.

As the hero sang the line Jogan pe jogan aaya….

Mumu went to Nepal but switched to green, perhaps to signify its usage in the poti jewelry worn by the ladies or am just reading too much into it now.

Mads returns as a Jogan once again.

In Sanson Ki Mala (Koyla) everything simmers for her footwork.

It is one of those rare films to be shot in Arunachal Pradesh.

Mumu returned from Nepal asking Ferocious Khan to calm his ti..cks…in Hamare Siwa Tumhare Aur Kitne Deewane Hain (Apradh).

She wore a yellow saree and sashayed in the green fields when he pursued Tumhare Aur Kitne Thikaane Hain. Uff, so stubborn!

In a reverse case, Mads wears a tamatari orange saree and asks Sanju baba to choole-choole…no not chhole-chhole…enough of that gas ka pressure… but she gets slapped instead. haww!

K o k i l a b e n !!!

Mumu does a costume change and attracts garam-Dharam looking fetching in a trenchcoat & trying to convince us he can paint, or wander like Dilip saab in Madhumati, following a ghostly woman in an orange dress playing a rabab to lure him. Oh well...

Mads also went to Bihar in these orange-yellow-red sarees.

In Keh Do Ek Baar Sajna, she prompts him never to take her back there.

Because you need a Lahiri babu to show you stuff, Mumu advised.

Like this:

Madame D went Arre Re Arre with Lahiri babu SRK.

Thoda red, thoda yellow, just getting in-between orange in pastel shades

This is never-ending and getting boring now…will wrap it jaldi se…point is did Mumu wear an orange amrapali?

Yes. More than once.

In this track, as well as in Dil Ko Dekho (Saccha Jhutha).

Also Mads wore a blue Amrapali in Tana Deri Na Tana Na De (100 Days) to channel her inner-Vyjayanthimala.

YAYAYA!!!

Auspicious toh orange ka middle name hai, in this Saajan Saajan ditty from Arzoo. Mads is expecting her lover, dressed in the colour of narangi/mausumbi, or is it melon?

Also her most earworm number, and her all too lit face.

Lit face ya lit all…Kaka tells Mumu not to be arrogant about her gora rang.

She is a jogan who midway through the song turns into a …uh not a nagin baba…just wet and sultry….

Mads was playing Sita maiyya onstage when Mumu was turning from a jogan to a …Radhe Ma?

Haan, so Mads maiyya matches her steps with Manisha Koirala Koirala wears yellow, to match Mads ka orange obsess.

Ok, we are nearing the end of this now tiring thread, bear one-two more.

Mumu’s most memorable song this is. Jai Jai Shiv Shankar (Aap Ki Kasam).

Orange all over.

In another song Suno, Kaho, she wears mustard yellow.

This one is a clincher that unites Mads and Mumu like no other melody.

Mumu was near about the end of her career when she sang this Agre Se Ghagro Manga De Rasiya…

...and then Mads returned to films after a haitus with a similar number...

Her special app in the Ghagra song from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani shows how the dancing diva rocks one for the ages.

Oh & the line 'Baghdad se leke Dilli via Agra'...after Amazon delivered Mumu’s ghagra.

Namashkar 🙏🏼. Kahiye kaun sa rang jamega aaj. 😎

EXTRA:

Devdas had Mads wearing greens, reds, maroons, so the famous mad-orange was reserved for one of the most crucial sequence, one that does not include a song but a jogan's poetic devotion.

Rang aise chadha hai rasiya.