In Requiem:

The Utopia called Bollywood where dreams come true and where rags to riches story takes place for real, where people’s identity gets converted into a sought after celebrity had done well for itself since the beginning of Cinema in India in 1914 with the likes of Dev, Raj and Dilip, the star studded trio who dazzled and outshone other stars in the movie industry, coming on their heels was the first true SuperStar with both mass and class appeal through the nation Rajesh Khanna and then taking that stardom even up to stratospheric heights of dizzing success, having that name recognition and obsessive fan following in every nook corner and cranny of the country was the tall, lanky, serious demeanor, the angry young man, with husky baritone vocals, the Big B, the Shahenshah of Indian Film Industry, the Actor of the Millennium, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan but all this hunky dory, throw caution to the wind approach was fine and well till the 1970s but then with the onset of the 1980s, the so-called lost decade of Hindi Film Industry every formula, theme, motif of movie making got all of a sudden debunked and audiences weren’t simply ready to accept the age old Bollywood narrative of hero meets heroine, fall in love, get separated, fight the bad guys and finally get together to stay happy forever. They hankered and cajoled for something refreshingly original, something so unique that it would not simply catch their attention but blow their minds and take their breath away.

Well, such was the tawdry, trivial and tacky state of affairs of the Hindi film industry and no one knew the exit out of this squalor of a mess and this is when the southern vixen Sridevi, with beauty to die for and looks that could easily kill made her debut in Bollywood and immediately made her presence felt everywhere with her standout performances and facial expressions worth millions at the Box Office, she was exactly what the Mumbai film world was waiting for not just a breath of fresh air but a force of nature, not just a zephyr of hopeful anticipation but a hurricane of talent and skill all refined and polished with her acting assignments down in the southern film industry. Indians just simply fell in love with her even though she couldn’t speak proper Hindi in all its nuances and that she had a toddler sort of a voice, none of this mattered to her now diehard fans who just wanted to see her sizzle the 70 mm screen in the darkness of a cinema hall. She instantly became the hit that every actress so desperately dreams of. She became the overnight sensation, the talk of the town and the content of all gossip everywhere. With movies like Himmatwala, Tohfa, Mawali, Masterji, Maqsad, Justice Chaudhury and more such movies produced by the South film fraternity for the north Indian audiences and acting alongside the behemoths by then Jeetendra, Dharmendra and others gave Sridevi the platform she needed to manifest her inherent versatile acting chops on the national level.

And this is exactly what she did with films which were women centric, with roles which put the heroine of the movie center-stage like Sadma, Nagina, Nigaahein, Chandni, Chaalbaaz, Khudagawah, Lamhe, English Vinglish and Mom. She chose her roles and directors very wisely. Even in Mr. India, a movie that was all Anil Kapoor written over it, she happened to carve out a niche for her role as the muckraking journalist Seema Soni, who’ll go to any length to cover a story and unearth a hidden crime or corruption in the system. Sridevi was one actress who was comfortable with herself and had no insecurity about her role once she signed the film and was on board. She was one actor who knew what she could do once the clap is given and the camera begins to shoot her. Though she was a private, reserved, reticent, shy, conservative type of a personality in real life yet in her reel life she was flamboyant, funny, overzealous, stunningly alive and overtly happy which the audiences gaged when they saw her in her varied roles. Apart from being a good actress she was an accomplished dancer who could dance on any number, classical or western and do something that no actress had done till then or since then ever which is mix her dance with strong facial emotions but according to the character of the movie and not as Sridevi the Bollywood heroine.

For example, when she danced with those blue eyes and white dress in the movie Nagina, her dance steps were exactly what a self-willed snake woman would do whenever she hears the trumpet of a snake charmer. And she was so good in that role overall and particularly in the song “Mein teri Dushman, dushman tum mera” that soon this song became an anthem for many a feminists who seem to relate to the pain and insult of dancing to the tunes of a man which Sridevi literally did in that now iconic song. In the same way, in the song “Naa jaane kahan se aaye hai” from the movie Chaalbaaz, Sridevi danced not as Sridevi but as Manju, the beer guzzling, thug punching, rain dancing street smart girl full of grit and gumption with so much grace that audiences just couldn’t get enough of her. It was only Sridevi after Madhubala who could set the screen on fire after getting soaked in water. This ability of bringing her character into the song and dance routine of the movie is what truly separates Sridevi from other actresses till Madhuri Dixit broke on the scene. In the same vein, in the song from the movie Chandni, “Mere haathon mein nau nau chudiyan hai”, Sridevi portrayed her eponymous character as the one herself who is dancing with all the effervescent charm and poise which later on in the movie she took to some other level when she draped in chiffon sarees looking more colorful than the rainbow flowers in the beautiful European locations looked not only a bombshell but a true sultry, sensous and scintillating diva spreading her mesmerizing charisma all over the place.

All this shows why directors wanted to capture her, heroes wanted to romance her, villains wanted to pursue her and producers wanted to sign her, even for double roles at a time when no one taught it sensible to give an actress a double role for it was considered the domain and forte of the popular actors only. Because everyone knew that she could deliver and come true on audience’s unflinching expectations of her. Sridevi started working at the tender age of 4 and did many films as a childhood actress. In her entire career, she did 81 films in Telgu, 72 films in Hindi, 71 films in Tamil, 23 films in Malayalam and 6 films in Kannada. No wonder time just flew by her and us and it was a huge surprise when she herself realized that she has completed a golden jubilee, 50 years in Film making. Phewww!!! That’s some record. At the zenith of her success, she was even approached by Hollywood biggies like Steven Spielberg who wanted to cast her in Jurassic Park. Sridevi was not just a legendary actress but a benchmark, the gold standard, the milestone upto which many actresses have tried to measure up or even match her exploits with the same gusto and panache but to no avail.

Sridevi had always been in a league of her own, truly a star in its own individual orbit. She did roles on the movie that were not just ‘hatke’ but which were full of feminity and flair. At a time when a heroine in hindi cinema was meant only to romance round the trees, or get slapped or raped on the silver screen and look all effeminate of the vulnerable kind, here comes Sridevi, a lady with defiance in her stance and method to her madness on the screen. She not only made audiences laugh but herself was hilarious as the character in her roles, something that Indian audiences had never seen any other heroine doing so. The secret behind Sridevi’s mysterious yet majestic presences on the screen was her devil may care attitude, her world be damned approach to things and her happy go lucky way of indulging in things new and old.

Rest In Peace, the truly first ever SuperStar Heroine of Hindi cinema!!!

Sridevi, then, now and forever.