Every Bollywood lover is in shock this week with the sudden demise of Bollywood Superstar Sridevi. I along with so many grew up watching her in classics such as Chandni; Lamhe; Chaalbaaz. Over the last few days I’ve found myself listening to her hits over & over again – so here I write this post dedicated to the iconic beauty & superstar of Bollywood.
While Sridevi started acting at the age of 4, she made her Bollywood debut with Julie (1975) when she was 12, playing the role of Lakshmi’s younger sister. The music for the movie was given by Rajesh Roshan which he won a Filmfare award for. The song, My Heart is Beating, sung by Preeti Sagar was one of the first English songs in an Hindi film. Pre-teen Sridevi comes into the frame around 1:30 in the clip.
Through the mid 70s, Sridevi acted in many Tamil films with superstars like Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan. It was her role in Himmatwala (1983) opposite Jeetendra that won the hearts of mass audiences. Directed by K.Raghavendra Rao, the movie was the remake of the Telegu film ‘Ooriki Monagadu’. All her dialogues were actually dubbed after the movie was completed as distributors were not satisfied with her pronunciation. Incidentally Sridevi passed away just the day before the film’s 35th anniversary (movie was released on Feb 25, 1983).
Then came Sadma (1983), which depicted the story of a young woman who regresses into childhood after suffering a head injury in a car crash. She ends up in a brothel and is rescued by Kamal Hassan who falls in love with her. The movie is a scene to scene copy of the Tamil film Moondram Pirai, starring both the actors. Sridevi earned a Filmfare best actress nomination for this as well as the National Award.
After this, there was no turning back for Sridevi. Her paring with Jeetendra was a hit and they were cast in 16 films together, more than any other of her co-stars. While she was paired with all of the hit actors in the 80s & 90s including Anil Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Rishi Kapoor and Rajesh Khanna, I am bias to her pairing with Amitabh Bachchan. Song Aaj Abhi Yaahin is one of my favorite songs from Inquilaab (1984), picturized on the duo and sung by Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle.
Then came one of my favorite movies of that time, Nagina (1986), where Sridevi gave one of her finest performances. The movie is still considered a cult classic even today. Nagina was also the first Hindi film to have a sequel, Nigahen: Nagina Part II (1989), although the sequel failed miserably at the box-office. Main Teri Dushman is still considered one of Sridevi’s most iconic dance sequences.
Sridevi starred in Mr India (1987) opposite Anil Kapoor which was the biggest commercial hit of that year. The movie is remembered for Amrish Puri’s dialogue Mogambo Kush Hua and Sridevi’s iconic dance number, Hawa Hawaii. I just love her expressions in this song – so chulbully and naughty.
Now at her peak, she went on to do Yash Chopra’s Chandni (1989) with Rishi Kapoor & Vinod Khanna. I love love love this movie. She showed such beauty & charm which we hadn’t seen before from her. Did I mention the songs? Uff! Who can forget Tere Mere Hoton Pe – where Sridevi emerges as the ultimate Yash Chopra heroine. Then there was Parbhat Se Kaali Ghata Takrai, all in white. Yash Chopra had told film critic Rajeev Masand “While making Chandni, I had a vision of who I wanted this girl to be. I told Sridevi that most of her costumes in the film would be in white.”
That same year Sridevi did Chaalbaaz (1989) playing a dual role opposite Rajnikanth & Sunny Deol. Movie was a remake of Hema Malini’s Seeta Aur Geeta. Chaalbaaz is a classic that’s still popular even today and highlighted her comedic talent. Sridevi won her first Filmfare best actress award for the film.
In 1991 was another turning point for Sridevi with Yash Chopra’s Lamhe (1991) which she starred opposite Anil Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman and Anupam Kher. Even Yash Chopra had acknowledged that the subject matter in this film was decades ahead of it’s time for India. While the movie didn’t do well in India, it’s still considered one of the biggest Bollywood hits overseas and the film won Filmfare award that year for Best Film.
With cross generation love depicted, Lamhe won Sridevi critical acclaim and she got her second Filmfare best actress award. This is a must see movie!! Incidentally the song Kabhi Main Kahoon was based of the background music that was used in Yash Raj’s earlier film, Chandni. I love Sridevi & Anupam Kher’s comedic timing with the musical melody depicting songs through the ages. One of my favorites even today.
Sridevi played a double role in Khuda Gawah (1992). She had awesome on-screen chemistry with Amitabh Bachchan and both were nominated for Filmfare awards that year. Her Urdu pronunciation was flawless and showed she’d come a long way from having her voice dubbed at the beginning. Beautiful movie with such unique music.
Sridevi was at the height of super-stardom with movies like Gumrah (1993) and Laadla (1994), which led to her seventh Filmfare Best Actress Award nomination. In Laadla, Sridevi successfully portrayed a negative character, must against the image of Bollywood heroines back then. She had stepped into Divya Bharti’s role due to her untimely death.
Sridevi came back to the limelight after 15 years with English Vinglish (2012). The film revolved around housewife Shashi Godbole, who enrolls in an English language course in order to please her husband and family. After the Toronto Premiere, some international media outlets had hailed Sridevi as the “Meryl Streep of India”. America’s Variety magazine, in their review found Sridevi “Disarmingly charming in a manner that recalls Audrey Hepburn.”.
Sridevi starred again in a woman-oriented film, Mom (2017) as a mother who’s out to avenge the injustice against her daughter. This was Sridevi 300th film.
Sridevi had also shot for a special appearance in SRK’s upcoming Zero which is scheduled to release in December. Sridevi proved time and time again that she truly was one of India’s biggest film stars. I’m going to leave you all with this song from Nakabandi (1990).
Let me know your thoughts, what are your memories of growing up with this legendary actress on my blog at https://filmyandaaz.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/ye-lamhe-yeh-pal-hum-barso-yaad-karange/
Till next time.. Henna
