Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor are counted among Hindi cinema's most successful on screen pairs, and the numbers back that up. Across their careers the two actors appeared together in more than 16 films, a mix of blockbusters, hits and outright flops.
A rocky start with their first film
Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit shared the screen for the first time in 1987 in Hifazat, a film that ran 2 hours and 16 minutes. The pairing did not click with audiences and the film flopped.
Tezaab turned things around, then Beta followed
Just a year later, in 1988, Tezaab arrived and set the box office on fire. The film cast both actors as characters consumed by obsessive love, and it went on to become a massive blockbuster. Viewers who want to revisit it can find Tezaab on the OTT platform Amazon Prime. The pair reunited in 1992 for the Hindi drama Beta, which once again won over audiences and turned into a blockbuster. Beta is also available on Amazon Prime.
Parinda flopped, Ram Lakhan cleaned up
In 1989, Anil Kapoor starred alongside Jackie Shroff and Nana Patekar in Parinda, which also featured Madhuri Dixit. The film later earned cult classic status, though it did not succeed commercially on release. The same year, however, Subhash Ghai's Ram Lakhan created a sensation, raking in huge collections with every song on the soundtrack turning into a hit. Ram Lakhan can also be streamed again on Amazon Prime.
Three films together in a single year, 1990
In 1990, the duo appeared in Rakesh Roshan's Kishen Kanhaiya, which turned into another massive hit and is available on Amazon Prime. That same year they also starred in Jamai Raja, which was a hit and can likewise be streamed on Amazon Prime. Also in 1990, the pair shared screen space in the semi hit Jeevan Ek Sangharsh.
Two flops in two years, then a long gap
After a run of hits, Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor faced two box office flops between 1991 and 1992. The first was Prateekar, streaming on Amazon Prime, and the second was Zindagi Ek Jua, available on YouTube. Four years later the two reunited for Rajkumar, which also flopped. Rajkumar is available on Amazon as well.
Pukar and Lajja also failed to impress
In 2000, the pair appeared in Rajkumar Santoshi's Pukar, but the film did not succeed either; it can be watched on Zee5. In 2001 they came together again for Lajja, which also did not achieve much at the box office. Lajja is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
A comeback in Total Dhamaal, 2019
After a long gap, Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor reunited on screen in 2019 for Total Dhamaal, which turned out to be a hit.
The scorecard: 15 films across three decades
Between 1987 and 2019, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit worked together in a total of 15 films. Of these, 4 became blockbusters, 7 flopped at the box office, one went on to become a cult classic, and one was rated average. The numbers explain why this pairing is still remembered as one of the industry's most successful.
