‘A gifted artiste, she refused to be typecast’
may be three shots; she would remove her makeup, and do it again. I never understood the reason, but I think she always wanted to give her best, let her work speak and also, look gorgeous.
And it was not a mere touch-up, but removing makeup from her nose and cheeks and then applying it again. Also, she didn’t have any makeup man back then. She put in great efforts to look good and perform well.
She didn’t have any hang-ups or nakhras over which profile of hers looked good on camera. She was very cool about the fact that she is what she is, take it or leave it.
During Chandni, she often improvised her scenes and lines. The complete ‘Cogniac sharaab nahi hoti’ sequence was improvised by Sridevi, Yashi ji and me; it was never a part of the script. In another sequence, I had to buy ice-cream for both of us. In the shot, she was to ask me for a bite and I was to give it to her. But when I asked her back, she showed me her thumb (a gesture to tease). This, too, was improvised. As a co-star, she really helped because acting is all about reaction and she was a great reactor.
And what a dancer! During a song in A story of twins Anju and Manju separated at birth. While Anju stays with her uncle who ont trols her, Manju eco omes a stage an ncer. When they wi itch places cc cidentally, h ey realise bout b each ther and exact evenge Switzerland, Saroj Khan had choreographed a dance sequence for her with Indian classical, and some western steps. They all left for the location at 11am and while Yash Chopra thought it will take the whole day, they were back by 2pm. Sridevi was so terrific at dancing that she finished it in just two hours. Sarojji later told me that Sridevi is so good and even her rehearsals were so perfect that you could take that as the final shot. Such was her professionalism.
I have lovely memories of her as an actor and a person. When she was carrying her first child, Boney Kapoor had come to meet her on the set of our film Kaun Sachha Kaun Jootha (1997). It was so cute of her to say, “This is the last film and my last few days of shooting.” That was the last time I worked with her, and it remains my parting shot with her. She was bidding adieu to the film industry to start a new life, get married, build a home and raise her children.
I missed her for the last 20 years because we didn’t get to work together after that film. We only met socially. I see her films today and I know how she focused on the nuances, and tried to look different each time. She believed in breaking the typecast. She was a very gifted artiste and I don’t think there has ever been a female actor in Bollywood who attained such glory and marvellous heights.
Also, Mr Amitabh Bachchan very graciously told me that to mark respect to Sridevi and show solidarity, love and affection to her, we should cancel our shoot, as we were supposed to do a promo song for 102 Not Out, and I agreed with him. Both of us have worked with her in several films and we have danced and sang together, so it would have not looked nice to do that on the day when she has passed away. We will miss her. Shashi Godbole, a housewife, can't speak English and is mocked by her family. She later learns the language and surprises them.