Bollywood's former leading lady Madhuri Dixit depends on yoga for energy, and balances it with a workout at the gym, jogging and a sensible diet, a news report said on Tuesday.

Dixit, 39, is currently in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, to start shooting for her comeback movie, produced by well-known Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra.

"The idea of working out for me is a balanced act. Yoga gives me stamina,'' she told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper. "Trust me, it's difficult to look beautiful after delivering two babies.''

One of Bollywood's most sought-after stars in the 1990s, Dixit stopped acting after marrying a U.S.-based Indian surgeon in 1999. They have two young sons.

Her last hit movie, released in 2002, was "Devdas,'' in which she played a courtesan in a saga of doomed love.

Bollywood has become competitive, Dixit said.

"In our time, when we started our careers, we were raw. Nowadays actresses are well-groomed and perfect right at the outset,'' she said.

"The industry has become ruthless. Either you are perfect or you are out,'' the daily quoted her as saying.