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3 min readNew DelhiMay 15, 2026 06:29 PM IST
Madhuri Dixit married Dr. Shriram Nene in 1999.
(Photo: Photo: Shriram Nene/Instagram)
Madhuri Dixit has remained one of Bollywood’s most celebrated divas for over four decades. However, there was a phase in her life when she stepped away from the limelight to enjoy married life in the US with her husband, Dr Shriram Nene. Nearly eight years after their marriage, Madhuri made her comeback with Aaja Nachle in 2007 and eventually became a popular face on television reality shows as a judge. Interestingly, after Madhuri had once put her flourishing career on hold to support her family life, Dr Nene later made an equally life-changing sacrifice for her comeback. He left behind his successful career as a heart surgeon in the US and moved to India — a decision that initially did not sit well with his parents.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Dr Nene revealed that his family struggled to understand why he would walk away from what many considered a “perfect life.”
“I am Indian. I grew up from an immigrant start and my parents certainly weren’t happy that I was leaving the prototypical job of a heart surgeon — kind of every Indian’s dream life — with a perfect situation, lots of friends, and being the head of the hospital,” he shared.
Reflecting on his medical career, Dr Shriram Nene explained that while he deeply loved being a surgeon, he eventually wanted to create a larger impact through technology and healthcare innovation.
“I could operate on at most three to five patients with open-heart surgery in a day, and maybe 500 patients in a year. It was incredibly rewarding to see patients leave the hospital healthy and to support their families, but when I looked at the world, I thought — there are billions of people. What if healthcare could reach the last mile through media and technology? What if you could put a doctor in everyone’s pocket?” he said.
Dr Nene also revealed that entrepreneurship had always been a part of his journey. “I had actually been a tech entrepreneur at 14 with a software company. But growing up, my parents believed the only real career paths were becoming a doctor or an engineer,” he recalled.
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After practicing medicine for nearly 20 years, Dr Shriram Nene decided to leave clinical surgery in 2011 to focus on healthcare technology and digital innovation. The move shocked many around him.
“My partners asked, ‘What are you doing? We need you here.’ My staff was devastated,” he said, adding that his parents were initially unhappy with the decision as well. “But later, when they saw the work I was doing with startups, they actually wanted to invest in them.”
Madhuri Dixit married Dr Shriram Nene in 1999. The couple are parents to two sons, Arin Nene and Ryan Nene.
English (US) ·