Dixit finally attained stardom after a series of consecutive flops when she landed the lead female role of Mohini in N. Chandra's blockbuster Tezaab opposite Anil Kapoor. The film went on to become that year's highest grossing movie. It was Dixit's first hit at the box office. Akshay Shah of Planet Bollywood praised Dixit for her dancing skills and her acting was also noticed. He wrote "Mahduri Dixit gives a fine tuned performance. Though she is more remembered for her crowd pleasing dance act Ek Do Teen, her acting needs to be noted, specially in the scenes where she is pitted against Anupam Kher. She looks and dances like a dream." Dixit received her first nomination for the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her work in Tezaab. In 1989, her first release was Subhash Ghai's movie Ram Lakhan, in which she was paired once again with Anil Kapoor. The film became a super-hit and went on to become the second highest grossing film of the year. Dixit's next release Prem Pratigyaa, in which she starred opposite Mithun Chakraborty, earned her second nomination for the Filmfare Best Actress Award. Thereafter Dixit got success in Rajiv Rai's multi-starrer Tridev, in which she starred opposite Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol, Sangeeta Bijlani, Sonam and Amrish Puri. Dixit was paired with Deol. The movie became the year's third highest grossing film but Dixit did not get much acting. Dixit continued her success with her third pairing with Anil Kapoor in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda. Although Dixit's work was limited, she earned critical acclaim. Aniket Joshi has praised her as he wrote "Madhuri Dixit, the only female character in the film, has a small role as Paro (Karan´s love interest and Prakash´s sister) yet still does well in the few scenes she has