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| Thousands came out on streets in Mumbai to witness Sridevi's last journey |
At an informal lunch party that former Union minister Jaipal Reddy had organized at his Delhi residence in 2007 for journalists and some other people, he said that 1990 was the transformational year with which the Age of Innocence ended in India.
Through silver screen, Sridevi led Indians from that Age of Innocence into the Age of Smartness.
Sridevi was the reigning queen of 1980s and the first female superstar of Indian film industry. She was unparalleled during those days in beauty, elegance and style in the film industry. Sridevi had the innocence of a child and sex appeal of a diva. She effervesced super hotness and coolness of a persona that charmed her in all roles that she played in a career spanning over 40 years.
Having played the role of child Lord Murugan at the age of 4, Sridevi was perhaps destined to be a superstar and darling of the Indian masses. She made her first adult debut when she was only 13 in a Tamil film, Moondru Mudichu meaning three knots. A year ago, she had debuted in Hindi films as a child actor in Julie that came out in 1975 half of India was yet to be born.
She made her debut in Bollywood as lead actress in Solva Sawan. She struck chords with the Hindi masses immediately. She cast a spell on the masses Hindi audience of 1980s films who not accustomed to such grace and sex appeal in one package, especially among the lead female actors.
When Solva Sawan came out in 1979, Sridevi was only 16. It was a remake of a Tamil film in which she had acted along with Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, two other superstars from the south. A couple of songs from the film are still among favourites of FM radio stations.
— SRIDEVI BONEY KAPOOR (@SrideviBKapoor) February 28, 2018Sridevi sent movie buffs in a frenzy with her dance sequences pairing with Jeetendra in film Himmatwala in 1983. With Mawali and Tohfa, Jeetendra and Sridevi became the most sought-after pair in Hindi cinema. And, Jaya Prada, now a politician, emerged as her rival.
Rivalry between Sridevi and Jaya Prada was such that despite giving superhit films together, they were not on talking terms.
The open cold war was so intense that even the opposite actors felt uncomfortable. With hope that Sridevi and Jaya Prada would end their fight, Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra once locked them in the make-up room while shooting for film, Maqsad. But the ice was too thick to break. Sridevi and Jaya Prada didn't talk.
Sridevi's presence in films was a guarantee of success during the mid and late 1980s. She was credited for the super success of Nagina, Nigahen and Chandni even though these were multi-starrer films.
She played opposite Dharmendra, his son Sunny, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Anil Kapoor, Mithun Chakravarty, Akshay Kumar and all the top stars of her heyday.
She had a special relation with Mithun Chakravarty. It was rumoured (there are reports suggesting it to be true) that Mithun and Sridevi secretly married but somehow things did not take the shape they wanted.
Sridevi married Boney Kapoor in the late 1990s. In one of the interviews, Boney Kapoor said that he approached Sridevi for Mr India only because he wanted to get close to her. Sridevi's mother quoted an exorbitant fee of Rs 10 lakh for those days. Boney agreed to pay Rs 11 lakh.
There are several characters that Sridevi will be remembered for. But those played in Sadma, Mr India, Chaalbaaz, Chandni, Nagina, Judaai, English Winglish and MOM may actually never be erased from the memories of her contemporaries.
Today as she was consigned to flames and mingled with the mother earth, Judaai of Chandni, who tried to be the biggest Chaalbaaz, delivering dialogues mixing English Winglish, with the cutest shrill voice, left every Mr India in the gravest Sadma. Sridevi was a true Nagina of Bollywood.
#WATCH Mumbai: Mortal remains of #Sridevi wrapped in tricolour, accorded state honours. pic.twitter.com/jhvC9pjLMp
— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2018
