[1][2] Noted by critics for her beauty, dancing skills, and characters, Dixit was credited for singularly paralleling her male contemporaries by leading star vehicles in a male-dominated industry.

She has worked with UNICEF since 2014 to advocate the rights of children and prevent child labour, participates in concert tours and stage shows, and is the co-founder of the production company RnM Moving Pictures.

Aakash Barvalia of Gomolo wrote, "Madhuri excels in her role as a young bride who acquits herself well as the naive village girl and does not realise what marriage actually entails.

[21] In her next movie from the same year she finally attained recognition when she played Mohini, an impoverished and miserable woman, who is forced to dance to make money for her father in N. Chandra's action drama Tezaab opposite Anil Kapoor.

Her portrayal of Laxmi Rao, a distraught woman who influences a local underworld don letting him give up his bad habits, earned her a second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

[23] Dixit collaborated with Trimurti Films for the action thriller Tridev which featured an ensemble cast (Sunny Deol, Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Sangeeta Bijlani, Sonam and Amrish Puri).

[27] Her next release of the year, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's drama Parinda, co-starring Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Nana Patekar was another box office hit.

[32] She won her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress for portraying Madhu, a rich and arrogant girl who falls in love with a poorer boy, in Indra Kumar's romantic drama Dil opposite Aamir Khan.

A major critical and commercial success, the film earned Dixit praise for her portrayal of Pooja Saxena, who is in love with her idol – Sagar.

It became the highest grossing Bollywood film in Hindi cinema history after its theatrical run and held the record for 7 years till the release of Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001).

[49] In 1997, Dixit received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Ketki Singh, a village woman who struggles to confront and defeat the forces of oppression and male domination in Prakash Jha's Mrityudand alongside Shabana Azmi and Shilpa Shirodkar.

Co-starring Shah Rukh Khan, Karisma Kapoor and Akshay Kumar, the film depicts the love stories of the dancers in a musical dance troupe.

[62] Dixit's portrayal of Anjali, a heartbroken and jealous woman who swears revenge on Jai (played by Kapoor) for rejecting her, garnered her several Best Actress nominations at various award ceremonies, including Filmfare and Screen.

[67][68] In 2001, Dixit starred in Deepak Shivdasani's love triangle Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke opposite Ajay Devgan and Preity Zinta.

[77][78] Dixit's next release was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period romantic drama Devdas, co-starring Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai.

[93] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN criticised the plot, while he wrote about Dixit's performance: "It's hard to take your eyes off the screen when she's up there, dazzling you with her spontaneity, her easy charm and her 100-watt smile.

[95] In 2013, Dixit made a special appearance in the romantic comedy-drama Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani as Mohini, a callback to her character from the 1988 film Tezaab.

[98][99] Anupama Chopra called Dixit "compelling", while Deepanjana Pal of Firstpost wrote "She's still capable of keeping an audience glued to their seats when the credits start rolling, all because she's dancing on screen.".

She played Madhura Sane, a middle aged housewife who takes the initiative to complete the bucket list of her deceased teenage heart donor.

Dixit garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal; Mihir Bhanage of The Times of India wrote "Madhuri owns the film and sails through it with flying colours.

"[112] Kunal Guha of Mumbai Mirror said, "Madhuri Dixit long-overdue debut in Marathi cinema is a comfort watch even if a tad predictable and sappy.

Lakshana N Palat of India Today wrote: "The little respite in this adventure-comedy is the pairing of Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit, who prove that they still have the same impeccable chemistry and partnership almost two decades later.

"[114] Total Dhamaal emerged as a major commercial success at the box office, grossing more than ₹200 crore (US$23 million) worldwide, and ranks as the ninth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.

[118] She next starred in Abhishek Varman's period romantic drama Kalank, featuring an ensemble cast including Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sanjay Dutt.

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote, "In the blinding glow of Dixit's presence as a nautch girl who can turn on the magic at will, the younger cast members pale somewhat in comparison.

[144] Dixit has sung small portions in a few songs from her films like "Kaahe Chhed" from Devdas and "Soniye Mil Ja" from Aaja Nachle, composed by Birju Maharaj and Salim–Sulaiman respectively.

Interrupting the shoot, Dixit, along with her husband Sriram Nene and the show's director Saahil Chhabria contacted PETA, waiting till the volunteers arrived.

[164] Dixit was appointed the brand ambassador and launched MAA (Mothers Absolute Affection), a flagship programme to ensure adequate awareness is generated on the benefits of breastfeeding.

[171] In March 2021, Dixit along with other Bollywood actors John Abraham, Shilpa Shetty and Sunny Leone joined PETA India for its 20th anniversary.

[185][186][187][188] While analysing her career, Reuters published, "In her prime, Dixit was the undisputed queen of Bollywood, the world's largest film industry by audience size, and her popularity and fees rivaled even the biggest male stars.