‘The uncrowned queen of acting’: 50 years of living the cinematic dream
“Arre, maine kuch achieve nahi kiya (I haven’t achieved anything)... There’s a long way to go. I feel my career has just started. Haan... let me tell you that,” said Sridevi, laughing.
Sridevi’s lilting laughter — much like her screen presence, beauty, grace and unmatchable talent — lingers on as I remember my last conversation, in November 2017, with the actress, who spent 50 of her 54 years of life living the cinematic dream.
“I feel like a newcomer. I feel that my career is going to start now. It’s not finished, It’s going to start now,” she asserted, dismissing any desire to treat her fans to an autobiography replete with stories from her glorious life.
Born in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu on August 13, 1963, Sridevi began her career at the age of four in the devotional film Thunaivan. That marked the beginning of a journey in filmdom that saw her work across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi productions, leading her to become one of the most formidable actresses of the 1980s and 1990s in Bollywood.
As filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma put it, “She was like a creation of God which he does whenever he is in a very special mood as a very, very special gift to mankind.”
Sridevi grew up to be known for not just her ability for slip into myriad roles but also for her expressive eyes, sheer comic timing and her fluid dancing skills, all of which made her a director’s delight.
As filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who directed her in Karma, said: “Introvert by nature, she was electricity with thunder in front of the camera. She would shock directors with each shot — be it dance,
NEW DELHI:
drama or romance. She was the uncrowned queen of acting in all languages in her time.”
In 2013, the government feted her with the Padma Shri, the country’s fourthhighest civilian award. Her work was widely lauded with a slew of other richly deserved honours.
Sridevi, who over the years became quite a fashion icon — sometimes giving tough competition to her daughters — commanded popularity like few others.
“Her popularity and stardom had to be seen to be believed. We were shooting for the climax in Nandyal for Kshana Kshanam and the whole of Nandyal came to a standstill when they came to know that Sridevi was in town,” Ram Gopal Varma recounted in a tribute after the sudden demise of the actress in Dubai late Saturday of a cardiac arrest.
Sridevi could also be extraordinarily warm and compassionate. Co-producer K Ramji of Tina Films International, said: “In 1986, while shooting for Sindoor, the heroine Neelam Kothari was staying in the same hotel as Sridevi. Neelam was a great fan and wanted to meet her, but was apprehensive about approaching an established star like Sridevi. Finally, when she entered her room, Sridevi got up to receive her, commented on Neelam’s lustrous hair and they became instant friends.”
In an industry where women beyond a certain age struggle to find roles, a 50-plus Sridevi proved she still had it in her when she carried two films — her “comeback” vehicle English Vinglish and last year’s Mom — on her shoulders.
In real life, she was indeed a “purely traditional housewife — a great mother and perfect host,” says Ghai.