Life after Lamhe: Sridevi on working with Yash Chopra

Sridevi, "I never hassled Yashji during the making of Lamhe. That was one film which I really loved doing. The only reason why we have not worked together again is because after doing two beautiful films like Chandni and Lamhe, we want to do something better. He told me that the day he has a spectacular script, he will definitely do a film with me."

STARDUST 

Nov, 1994

Producer/director Yash Chopra with actors Anil Kapoor and Sridevi in Lamhe

 

D Street forays into Bollywood: Sridevi's comeback English Vinglish gets corporate financing: August 2011: The Economic Times

Buzz, that most fickle of beasts, has started to surround English Vinglish even before its release date is set. 

For film buffs, Gauri Shinde's debut feature marks the long-awaited return of Sridevi, after a hiatus of nearly a decade-and-a-half. But it's the unusual line-up of producers that's piqued the curiosity of even those not interested in actors and their comebacks. 

In investment circles, the big news is that of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Radhakrishnan Damani dabbling in a Bollywood production, for the first time. English Vinglish also sees another debutant producer in R Balakrishnan (Balki). As chairman of Lowe Lintas, Balki is admired and envied by peers in advertising for being the only person to successfully manage two incredibly complex vocations: creative head of one of India's biggest agencies and a Bollywood director with two films to his credit. 

Rounding out the list of producers is Gary S of Red Ice Films, a close professional associate of Shinde. This unusual ensemble was put together to create a film that remains as true to script as possible. As soon as he read his wife Gauri Shinde's story, Balki was very impressed and just a little envious. After briefly exploring a few options, the couple decided to make the film under their own banner — Hope Productions. 

Shinde says, "There were others interested but we decided to have control of it so there wouldn't be creative interference." Being a producer was something that had never occurred to Balki. He says, "It was a trilingual film and various people had different points of view on the economics and viability. That's when I got into the picture." 

His misgivings about producing led him to bring in Gary S from Red Ice. In the course of looking for other co-producers, he recalled a brief conversation with ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala: "He'd given me his card saying that at some point, we should do something together." 

Balki contacted Jhujhunwala and gave him a short brief: the only part of which he's willing to share at the moment is that "it's about the simple insecurities of a woman." 

Within 24 hours, both Jhunjhunwala and Radhakrishnan Damani were in. It turns out Jhunjhunwala had wanted to be associated with film production but was waiting for something slightly more sensitive than typical Bollywood masala fare. 

Balki says, "He has not interfered one bit. It's the first time a financier and co-producer add the weight to a project that he does." 

Another option was Boney Kapoor, the husband of Sridevi and one of Bollywood's leading independent producers. However, according to Balki, "I just believed it would be better as a relaunch for Sridevi without Boney. He's a great producer and I sometimes wish I'd said yes! But it just needed a kind of neutrality." 

The producers are not willing to comment on the budget, with one leg of filming yet to be completed. For Shinde, a feature is something she always wanted to do — through her stint in advertising and in her later career as an ad filmmaker. She did a filmmaking course in New York while still in Lowe Lintas before moving out of the agency to direct TV commercials. 

Oh Man!, a short film by her, was screened at the Berlin Film Festival. She worked with ad production houses like MAD, Abhinay Deo Productions and Red Ice on brands like Tanishq, Havells and Axis Bank. She's good naturedly indignant about Balki who had significantly less experience behind the camera beating her to the punch in making a feature. 

She says "He's more disciplined. I'm far more lazy and a procrastinator. But I also didn't want to make a film until I had something worth spending two years on." She worked on the script of English Vinglish for a couple of years, even as she continued to make ad films and finally began production in January this year. 

She refuses to be drawn into a discussion of what the film is about, only saying, "It's a light-hearted film about a woman, her journey, and coming into her own. I don't want it to be looked at as a woman filmmaker with a woman-centric film; it's not arty or sad." 

With the India schedule complete, all that remains is the part that's to be filmed in New York. Her experience as an ad filmmaker has helped. She says, "A 30-second commercial gets shot in one day versus five scenes for a feature in a day. In terms of quality and people, the kind of professionalism in advertising is great." 

With shoots happening as often as three or four times a month, it helps keep any budding director in touch with the filmmaking process. Shinde has carried over many members of the team she works with: the director of photography Lakshman Utekar as well as an art director/production designer. And while she's yet to encounter this firsthand, she believes people with an advertising background face a greater pressure to perform within Bollywood. While many of the films they've made have been critically acclaimed, relatively few of them have set the box office ablaze. 

She says ruefully, "If my film doesn't do well I'll be slotted as an ad filmmaker who can't make feature films." Many people in advertising — particularly those who are yet to actually venture into full length filmmaking - labour under the illusion that a feature is a lot more liberating than a commercial can ever be. Shinde does not count herself among this lot. 

She says, "I don't look at that as 'not so great' and this as very free, since I love doing ads as well." The difference is that in a feature, a director can insist on at least 50% to 60% of her vision but she admits, "I don't know how it will pan out when it comes to promotion and distribution." 

Having a filmmaker as a spouse, and in the case of Shinde, a producer, is a bit of a mixed bag. She was on the sets of both Balki's films, more so in the case of Paa but says, "I was there to criticise and point out things that didn't work for me. He does the same." 

While Balki helped get the finances and rope in Sridevi, he prefers to be a hands-off producer . The couple avoid being on the sets at the same time. Balki says wryly, "My involvement is more in terms of moral support. Can a producer exhibit the sensitivity that the director needs? Can I save her from the insensitivity of production? According to her I haven't done that." 

Among the ground rules laid down is that only one of the two can actually be making a film. Shinde says, "We'd need to live in two separate houses if we were doing films simultaneously! You need the other person to be a spouse, to bounce off ideas and things like that. For which, the other person has to be far less stressed." 

As for Hope Productions, neither of them knows what the future holds. It will be the banner for Balki's next film which stars Amitabh Bachchan. He intends scripting it shortly and to be co-producer : 

"I want to have the intellectual property rights and creative control of the project." The only thing he's sure of is that Hope is not going to become a regular production house, churning out films and that he hasn't "turned producer" . 

Ravi Balakrishnan, 

ET Bureau Aug 27, 2011, 

08.16am IST 

 From The Economic Times

Escaping Stereotypes with Versatility: Editor Bhawana Somaaya's essay on Sridevi: Bollywood Superstar

IN HER first film as a child star, Sridevi played Lord Muruga. The director wanted her to tonsure, but Sridevi’s mother was hesitant. She felt it would embarrass the child at school and on the hero’s intervention, the director let her wear a wig. 

Her first Hindi film was “Julie” (‘75), where she played Laxmi’s younger sister. Her first adult role came in “Solwa Saawan” (‘78) opposite Amol Palekar. The film went unnoticed and after almost four years, Raghavendra Rao relaunched her in the Telugu remake “Himmatwala” (‘83). The Jeetendra starrer was a huge success and Sridevi became an instant star. Harmesh Malhotra’s “Nagina” (‘86) made on a modest budget, proved a box-office bonanza and a turning point in the actress’ career. She confirmed her prowess in Boney Kapoor’s “Mr. India” (‘87). Her best performances though came with Yash Chopra’s “Chandni” (‘89), “Lambe” (‘91) and later with Mahesh Bhatt’s “Gumraah” (‘93). Married to producer Boney Kapoor, She is at the moment taking a sabbatical and has a one year old daughter Janhvi.

In the interim, she has been wooed by top banners and film makers of repute, but Sridevi has stated that she’ll agree only when the role is too tempting to decline.

In a two-decade career comprising 100 films (Hindi), it is disappointing that Sridevi does not have even 20 films to be proud of. Beginning as a teenager in a large family weighed down with the elder daughter's problems in “Julie” (‘75), she became the sweet 16 girl in "Solwa Saawan” (‘78), and later, the innocent villager exploited by a selfish city boy. She settles in marriage with a handicapped husband, her silent admirer. Realisation dawns that beauty is only skin deep. The damage began with “Justice Choudhary” (‘82), a regular commercial film portraying her as a sex symbol. “Himmatwala”, “Jaani Dost” and “Mawaali” (‘83) confirmed the image.

It was Balu Mahendra who made the first chink in the golden cage. “Sadma” (‘83) was about a girl on a picnic, raped and dumped in a brothel and the trauma involving her saviour, Kamal Haasan. It was a heartbreaking performance, but the film rather than be a turning point, led to a series of over-dramatic portrayals. Her films followed a familiar pattern of a woman who dared to dream, but when weighed down by family pressure, surrendered. As the upper-class daughter in “Jaag Utha Insaan”, she is drawn to Mithun Chakraborty and had it not been for the withdrawal of fiancee Rakesh Roshan she would have been doomed to despair!

Once in a while came a spirited role — the mischievous wife of “Masterji” (‘85), hell-bent on seducing her husband sworn to celibacy. The wife in “Inquilaab” is self-respecting and disapproving of her husband’s dishonesty. In “Aakhri Raasta” (‘86), she is protective of her boyfriend's father, knowing he is a culprit. A rare instance of the individual rising above a relationship. This happened time and again. A crooner in “Jaanbaaz” (‘86), she is kidnapped by the hero’s enemies and forcibly injected with heroin. In a dazzling body movement descriptive of the effect of the drug, Sridevi was tantalising and uninhibited. Her charisma was unmistakable in Harmesh Malhotra’s “Nagina” (‘86), where she played an “Ichadhari Saanp”, transforming from a human to a snake at her will. However illogical that sounds in theory, on screen she was magical.

“Mr. India” (‘87) was the first time she played an office-going girl. Seema works in a newspaper office and lives as a paying guest with a bachelor and a bunch of kids. She is short-tempered, but not insensitive, daring to love an invisible man and exasperated at not being able to explain the phenomenon to her boss. She is the ‘hero’ of the film, fighting evil without challenging the ego of her beloved. It was yet another milestone, but again, without any harvest. On the surface, the roles were versatile. A servant girl sleeping with her master in “Nazrana” (‘87), victim of two friends’ sacrifice in “Ram Avtar” (‘88), a dacoit in “Sherni” (‘88) and a “Nigahen” (‘89). Wooed by Rishi Kapoor in “Chandni”, when her lover is handicapped, she nurses him against extreme hostility, but cannot restore his injured self-esteem. Her frustrated beloved rejects her, to return after a long exile, confident of being accepted. While choosing between two lovers, she follows her heart, but not before expressing her angst.

Sridevi in Chaalbaaz

A survivor in “Chaalbaaz” (‘89), she fights not just for herself but also for her oppressed twin. An angel in “Aadmi aur Apsara” ('91), a gypsy in “Banjaran” (‘91), she emerged unconventional but wholesome in Yash Chopra’s “Lamhe” (‘91). Pallavi is unaware of Viren’s obsession for her. As the daughter Pooja, she is single minded in her goal and unwilling to give up her fantasy. Her devotion compels the hero to drop his defences. The end though not accepted by the audience, was the only finale to the unusual love story.

A hunter amongst men in “Khuda Gawah” (‘92), she marries the to return to the prison. The waiting takes longer than intended and in her acute suffering, loses her memory. The daughter grows up watching her mother’s anguish, determined to find her lost father and succeeds. “Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja” (‘92) also about a daughter in search of her father's killer, was a thriller. She plays a thief, robs diamonds, breaks locks and if need arises, fakes seduction. She has no moral hang-ups.

Comparatively, the singer in “Gumraah” (‘93), is traumatised when trapped in a crime by her boyfriend who hides drugs in her bag and is imprisoned. Her coming to terms with the dungeon and her risk to escape, at the end of the journey still trusting and vulnerable. “Laadla” (‘96), in a way, was the antithesis. As the single woman running a business empire, she is autocratic and power-drunk. A mill worker of her company takes it upon himself to reform the snobbish boss.

The woman of substance emerged from time to time. A victim of amnesia in “Mr. Bechara” (‘96), that told the story of a good-hearted doctor who convinces his patient that she's the wife of a widower with a young son. After few questions and suspicions, she surrenders to her destiny, takes on the mantle of a wife and mother with commitment. That is when a skeleton from the past stumbles. Her memory revives and she has to make a decision. Must she listen to her heart or behave responsibly? Like “Chandni”, she listens to her heart, chooses Nagarajuna over Anil Kapoor and everything is forgiven. 

Not in “Army” (‘96). The protagonist forms her army of prison inmates to settle scores with her husband’s murderer. Hard as steel, in the earlier scenes, Sridevi wears her femininity with equal grace. 

For some strange reason, the materialistic wife, selling her husband for a crore of rupees to the other woman in "Judaai" (‘97), provokes no contempt. It is because Sridevi projects the character with innocence and humour. Repentant in the end for losing her kids and husband, she goes to the other extreme of donating all the money to charity and pleading with the other woman to return her husband. 

Interestingly, she was never the unfulfilled wife seeking love outside marriage, never an adulteress, the mistress or even a courtesan or a prostitute. Untrapped by a social image, she was neither a raging feminist nor a doormat. When forced to play a suffering martyr, she strived for solutions, her natural instinct craving for cheer. Even if it meant seeking happiness by amusing herself!

By Bhawana Somaaya
The Hindu, 27-08-1999 

Bhawana Somaaya

@bhawanasomaaya

NOTE: I wish writer/editor Bhawana Somaaya would pen Sri's biography. Unlike other Indian film magazine editors and writers, she isn't gossip-hungry, she writes about performance more than personal issues, and has an erudite elegance to her well-informed writing. Bhawanaji in particular has known Sridevi since 1984 and has had access to Sridevi, a look behind the scenes - unlike many of her contemporaries or juniors. 

Ethnic Chic: Sridevi's exquisite taste: 40 and fabulous, Indian icon of screen is now legend of Indian couture

Sridevi created waves at a recent fashion event, striking a pose in a simple sari and looking like the Indian Goddess that she is. 

Many bloggers, forum writers and the self-proclaimed fashion dictators noted that Sridevi does look better and better with age - and particularly in ethnic, traditional clothes. Usually we argue, but we're forced to agree. 

No one wears a sari quite as well as Sridevi. Or even a salwar-kameez or anything that resembles ethnic chic at its chic-est. 

Evidence lies in the pics, some examples here.

Sridevi in New York for English Vinglish

It's an all girls vacation for the gorgeous Sridevi and the director of her comeback film English Vinglish, Gauri Shinde. The two of them will fly to New York next month for the second schedule of their film. 

This is the intermission point in the film when Sridevi meets the enigmatic stranger, played by Amitabh Bachchan, on a flight to the US. The women will go to the US without their respective spouses. 

"So far, their husbands (Boney Kapoor and K Balki) have been hands-on with the project, constantly hovering around to make sure things go right. Now, the two confident ladies who, incidentally have become the best buddies during the first schedule, have decided to bar their respective spouses from the New York schedule. Even Sri's two daughters won't visit her during her long two-month shooting in New York," says a source.  

"From the time Sri got married and became a mother, she has known no other life except her domestic world. Hard as it would be for her to tear herself away from her daughters and husband since she hasn't stayed away from them for even a few days let alone months, she will be away from home and family working in New York... and having fun," the source said. 

Sridevi and Gauri have made a list of all the fun places and activities in and around New York that they would enjoy when not shooting. 

When asked about his wife's plans, Boney Kapoor said, "Yes, she will be away in the US shooting next month. She'll be on her own. I don't know if she'll miss me but I certainly will." 

Boney hints he will break the rule and sneak a visit or two to New York to meet his wife. "I've no intention of joining them in the US," Balki says. "Let the ladies enjoy the shooting. I need to get down to my own script which has been neglected for some time. Mr Bachchan gently keeps reminding me about it." 

-- Subhash K Jha in Patna From Rediff.com

Sridevi attends Neeta Lulla's Show 2011

Sridevi attends Neeta Lulla's show with both her daughters Jhanavi and Khushi at Lakme Fashion Week Day 4. Janhavi and Sridevi; the mother-daughter duo cut quite the picture at LFW. While Sridevi wore a Donna Karan dress, her daughter Jhanvi sported a Hervé Léger.

Grand Hyatt, Mumbai on 20th Aug 2011

Dancing Queen: Sridevi: Filmfare retrospective on a Bollywood Icon

Sridevi's sensuousness and beauty left many a man feeling misty. Rachit Gupta takes a look at the golden girl's dream performances. 

 Apart from being one of the most beautiful faces in Indian cinema, Sridevi was synonymous with one important quality that makes actors stars. She danced like a dream. Such were her moves that people in theatres, the male gender to be specific, used to swoon over her. But that was just a part of this fantastic actor's career. 

Her unprecedented popularity in Tamil and Telugu cinema earned her a place in Hindi films and her on-screen energy and beauty took her to the top. Whether she did critically lauded roles or run-of-the-mill potboilers, the audience lapped it up. Proof was her cameo presence in Janbaaz where she made the song Har kisi ko nahin milta a memorable moment. 

Sridevi was also one of controversy's favourite children. Her rumoured relationship with Mithun Chakraborty, her constant rivalry with Jaya Prada and Madhuri Dixit and her sudden marriage to Boney Kapoor kept her in the headlines. 

Most of her early films, from the '80s were dubbed by other actresses, including Rekha. But that never stopped the fans from cheering for Sridevi. Her persona and charisma was and is beyond any cinema language. As she readies for her a comeback in Gauri Shinde's next, we go down memory lane.

WOW! Filmfare's done a fab feature - after a long time - on Sridevi. 

Please go and grab a copy (with Kareena Kapoor on the cover) NOW!

Sridevi and Gauri Shinde at Sabyasachi Mukherjee's 2011 Show

Gauri Shinde, Sridevi's first female director attends fashion week with her leading lady. The two ladies, along with their respective husbands (director R Balki and film producer Boney Kapoor), spent the entire evening with each other. 

English Vinglish, Sridevi's return to film after a 14 year hiatus, is an eagerly anticipated comedy, due for release later this year. 

Lakme Fashion Week 2011. 

 

Sridevi at the Sabyasachi Show at Lakme Fashion Week 2011

Sridevi looks ravishing as she poses for shutterbugs with designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee on Day 4 of Lakme Fashion Week.




Sridevi at the Sabyasachi Show at Lakme Fashion Week 2011.

Mumbai, Aug 20 (IANS)

Lots of colour along with four dozen models of different ages and sizes on the ramp. That is how the third day of the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2011 ended as Sabyasachi Mukherjee presented men, women and children on the ramp, with his muse Vidya Balan cheering in the front row along with actress Sridevi.

Both Vidya and Sridevi looked ravishing in saris. While Vidya was wearing an off-white saree with a black border and peach pink blouse, Sridevi was dressed in a green sari with golden border and red blouse.

‘Sabyasachi never ceases to amaze. He is someone who always manages to better himself. It was a fantastic collection and regular clothes were used so beautifully. He is truly an Indian designer because he uses Indian designs and fabrics for all his collections,’ Vidya Balan told reporters after the show.

Presenting styles favoured by girls in Patiala, Sabyasachi added touches of Kathak and Kathakali for the silhouettes and the music and presentation.

Using khadi, organza, net, silk and velvet and beautiful thread work from Kashmir with Zardozi in shimmering silver with floral designs but restrained bling, the show was an experience of ethnic fashion.

Sridevi, who was enthralled with the collection, said: ‘It was a fantastic collection. I loved every design.’
Other celebrities who were seen in the show were Boney Kapoor, Rahul Bose, R. Balakrishnan and Shraddha Kapoor.

Twenty-three entries comprising groups of models wearing similar outfits in different colour blocking gave the viewers a unique choreography experience.

‘I have dedicated this collection to the Indian people,’ Sabyasachi said.

Mitul Sengupta, a Kathak dancer dazzled with her expert foot work and to the beat of her Kathak chants.

The show summed up with the sound of Vande Mataram.