Sridevi on the sets of Chaand Kaa Tukdaa (1994)

Released on 19 August 1994, Sridevi, 31, on the sets of the heavily criticised Hindi film Chaand kaa Tukdaa.  

I was today years old when I learned that this awful, awful movie... actually made money! The star power of Sridevi and Salman Khan (in that order - Sri had the title role!) meant this movie grossed more than its budget in the long run. 

Budget ₹2.75 crore

Box office ₹3.88 crore! 

Sridevi and Salman Khan in Chaand Kaa Tukdaa (1994)

Sridevi and Salman Khan in the 1994 film Chaand Kaa Tukdaa. 

TBT: Sridevi in Hong Kong: Portraits for South China Morning Post

TBT: Sridevi in Hong Kong: Portraits for South China Morning Post 
 

Sridevi on the cover of Chitralekha: April 1994: Portraits by Gautam Rajadhyaksha

Sridevi on the cover of Chitralekha: April 1994: Portraits by Gautam Rajadhyaksha

Images below were originally published in Cine Blitz.  

Sridevi in Laadla: Another Feather in Her Cap

Released on 17 Mar 1994, Laadla was a blockbuster from the get-go. Sure Anil Kapoor had the title role, but its Sridevi's iconic, over-the-top quasi negative role as Sheetal Jaitley that most remember. It earned her yet another Filmfare Best Actress nomination. Often credited with carrying the otherwise ordinary 90s Bollywood film, in the lens of 2026, the film is fabulous, flawed... fabulously flawed! 

Sridevi got high praise (Yash Chopra for one loved it), and mimicking her signature tagline in the film--You understand, you better understand--became a viral trend long before the invention of Instagram.  

1. Sreehari Nair (film critic), Rediff.com – "The VERY BEST of Sridevi" article, 10 July 2017
   "It's a character and a movie salvaged only by Sridevi's performance." He further elaborated on her inventive approach to an otherwise "trashy role.") "Sridevi doesn't try to embalm a trashy role, she plays trash like trash. She has an irony about the whole thing; she's too inventive and doesn't merely perform the rituals. When she struts and snaps her finger hard, we get it: She is too big for the role." 
2. Raveena Tandon (co-star, who played Kajal), Times of India interview – 25 March 2022 (on the film's 28th anniversary)
   "'Laadla was an amazing, very special film for me and working with Sridevi and Anil Kapoor was a lifetime experience which I always cherish.'"
3. Aneez Bazmee (screenwriter), interview with Komal Nahata – referenced in The Indian Express article, 25 March 2024 (on the film's 30th anniversary)
   "No one would have played the role better than Sridevi." (He added that the team rewrote scenes specifically "to complement Sridevi’s acting prowess and strength as an actor.")

These quotes highlight why Sridevi's fierce, campy, and larger-than-life portrayal remains the film's standout element decades later, even as the movie itself is often called over-the-top or messy. 
After a row of flops, the cast needed a hit. And they got a big one! 

TBT to 1994: Sridevi in Hong Kong

Oct 18, 1994

Sridevi in Hong Kong. 

The iconic Indian actress poses for South China Morning Post. 

More in the archive here. 
 

Shout out to Bollywood Memories for this collage of Sridevi, Dimple Kapadia, Juhi Chawla and Madhuri Dixit

MOVIE: Why do you make films only from the male perspective. You’ve worked with all the top actresses today - Madhuri (Mahasangram), Sridevi (Khuda Gawah) and Juhi (Sultanat). Don’t they inspire you to see things from a feminine point of view sometimes? 

Mukul Anand: Sridevi inspired me to make Khuda Gawah where she had a double role. Dimple inspired me to make an Aitbaar. What I like about Sridevi is her tremendous dedication to her work. Madhuri has used her simplicity to her advantage while Juhi has come up by sheer hard work. I remember after Sultanat, Juhi felt so cheated and disillusioned with her bad performance. I told her, she would have to learn the nuances of acting and dancing, right from scratch — which she eventually did. I am so happy she has prospered. 

-- Producer/Director Mukul Anand,
Movie Magazine 1994

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Sridevi with Raveena Tandon, Lata Mangeshkar and Anil Kapoor

As the images featured Sridevi, Raveena Tandon and Anil Kapoor, there are blogs and Instagram posts stating the pics are from a Laadla film premiere/party/audio launch. None of it is true! In fact, this was an audio launch by HMV that had nothing to do with the film that was released months before! 

More in the archive here. At a time when Sridevi rarely attended events, she dazzled by making a surprise appearance for Lata Mangeshkar.  

Sridevi in Laadla (1994)

 

Sridevi and her power suits in Laadla (1994)

Having turned 30 when she shot the film, the age of innocence, of playing wallflower or victim, was beyond the scope of all-powerful and all-knowing Sridevi. By then, Sridevi had already appeared in over 200 films since the age of four, so the omnipotent and omniscient one had to essay stronger parts, leads that were specially written with her in mind. 

Laadla was a flawed film (as was Judaai) but somehow, the power of conviction by the actress which helped the suspension of belief while watching powered the movies and made them so watchable and entertaining. 

The First look of Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin with Akshay Kumar and Sridevi: 1994

The First look of Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin with Akshay Kumar and Sridevi! Major throwback to 1994 when the first few stills from the sets of the ill-fated film leaked. Akshay Kumar was fresh off a superhit song (the blockbuster Tu cheez badi hai from the hit action film Mohra) and Sridevi was 'the' superstar. Alas, the barely made film released a decade later... and performed as expected... 

Sridevi as a bride on the sets of Laadla back in 1994

Nagarjuna and Sridevi in Govinda Govinda aka The Great Robbery

Released on 21 January 1994, ie 31 years ago today, I loved parts of this Telugu film Govinda Govinda a lot, but especially the song Andamma Andamma - where you can just look at glorious Sridevi all the livelong day! 

Sung so beautifully by SP and Chitra... its easy on the ears and visually so simple, but so stunning. 

The film was (poorly!) dubbed into Hindi as The Great Robbery--before people realised that investing in a stellar dubbing team would have more fruitful returns! 
 

TBT: January 1994: 93 wasTHE Year when Juhi Chawla toppled Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit!

The Chawla Challenge 

Sridevi and Madhuri proved to be no match for the charming Chawla who arrived with an overload of luck, surfaced right up to '93. 

Flops like Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja, Chandra Mukhi, Hairaan and Dil Tera Aashiq, Phool, Sahibaan, Paapi Devta,  and Aansoo Baney Anagarey were evidence of the masses disenchantment with the forever favourites. 

On the other hand, in Lootere, Aaina, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke and Darr, Juhi showed an obvious talent for making gamine faces. like Sridevi and dhak-dhaking like Madhuri. The perfect combination had the audience swooning over her the same way Rishi Kapoor has been for quite some time now! 

-- Star & Style, January 1994

TBT to 1994: Sridevi replaced by Rakesh Roshan? The Gossip!

TBT to 1994: Sridevi replaced by Rakesh Roshan? The Gossip!
 

Throwback to 1994: Madhuri Dixit, "Sridevi is only reiterating what I've said..."

Sept 2015

Throwback to the 90s! 

Excerpt from Stardust, 1994, when the alleged rivalry between the screen queens was at it peak. 

Manisha Koirala, firmly a Sridevi fan who notoriously took potshots at Madhuri in print (remember her infamous quote, "No Man or Madhuri can stop me'?!) before a truce was made when they worked together in Lajja in 2001, dared to ask Madhuri point blank, “With an obvious reference to you, Sridevi has said in print that, two hits make you Number One. And one flop leaves you without a number’. She shrugs off the ‘Madhuri-threat’. You too make indirect subtle cracks at her. For example I haven’t been approached by any Spielbergji. Just what is the extent of your cold vibes?” 

Madhuri Dixit, “First of all, Sridevi is only reiterating what I’ve been saying all along. About being Number One. It’s just a box-office rating that doesn’t last forever. Sometimes you’re Number One, then three flops and you’re no longer Number One. That’s why l’ve never believed in that. That’s what I’ve always maintained and she’s just saying the same things again. 

And as far as making 'indirect, subtle cracks’ goes, I’ll say that I haven’t made any cracks at her. It’s just that the person who interviewed me had used the term 'Spielbergji while asking me the question. So I replied in the same vein that I hadn’t been approached by any Spielbergji. I’m sure no one would have even noticed if I’d said Subhashji. It wasn’t deliberate at all. And as far as I’m concerned there are no cold vibes at all.” 

Sridevi at Madhuri Dixit-Nene's wedding reception in 1999

Sridevi with Akshay Kumar and director Pankaj Parasher on the sets of Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin in 1994

Sridevi with Akshay Kumar and director Pankaj Parasher on the sets of Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin in 1994!

Recently, a passing comment made by Sridevi has been taken wayyyy too seriously by the media. It is alleged that Sridevi joked with the film director Pankaj Parasher, to tell Akshay Kumar to learn his lines, after he fumbled take after take on set. Clearly this was spoken in humour and Sridevi and Akshay remained cordial. In fact, Akshay Kumar said later that Sridevi was a dream of many and it was an honour to work with her. 

Chai se zyada tili garam... comes to mind as we read these viral headlines! 

I found this interview great fun as so many rare things about Sridevi have finally been revealed on the record. 

Sidharth Kannan's tell-all YouTube show has a great following, my only jibe would be that when the guest speaks with delusional sense of grandeur and self-aggrandizing quotes are thrown out, he doesn't try to fact check or pop their balloon filled with petard. But I suppose manners and etiquette prevents him from rolling his eyes to their face. Delusional wannabes who blame the industry for their own lack of success and lackustre turn. 

Now its interesting with Pankaj Parashar as in his long career, he's made two great things; one TV show (Karamchand) and one good film (Chaalbaaz - which was a near-complete take on... well, as you all know Seetha aur Geetha/Ram aur Shyam etc). Pankaj Parasher's track record is a long list of ignoble failures and the stats don't lie;

Imagine if your pilot or doctor had a success rate of 36 percent. Would you work with him? All the wizardry and talent he showed when he was in his 20s and early 30s, dissipated real fast. There are constant threats that he's going to make a sequel to Chaalbaaz and Jalwa (a hit, but tbh not a very good movie!), but really, so far nothing solid seems to be in the horizon. Gosh, was he just a flash in the pan? It's not that Bollywood is not kind to newcomers or outsiders; it's downright cruel to box-office blimps. Nothing succeeds like success but lady luck has consistently avoided the happy-no-lucky director. 

Diwali 2024: throwback to Sridevi's Diwali shoot in 1994

 

Diwali 2024: throwback to Sridevi's Diwali shoot in 1994 for Cine Blitz magazine. More images in the archive here.

 

Sridevi strikes a pose on the sets of Chaand Kaa Tukdaa: TBT to the 90s

Sridevi on the sets of the film Chaand kaa Tukdaa - released on 19 August 1994, despite the film's superstar power of Sri and Salman Khan, nothing could save this movie! Unwatchable. 

The song and dance routines are great -- Sridevi is exceptional in Aaj Radha Ko Shaam... other than that... skip. 

Rarest Photos of Sridevi in Hong Kong: TBT to 1994

 

Oct 18, 1994. 

Sridevi, 31, in Hong Kong. Rarest of rare photos from South China Morning Post. Part of a Bollywood troupe of performers, Sridevi headlined a show with Anil Kapoor, Manisha Koirala, Nagma and Anupam Kher. The superstars were doing shows across Asia. A jet-lagged and exhausted Sridevi met the press all too briefly, not doing any interviews but she posed for the Hong Kong photographers and left quickly to see the stage and rehearsals. 

Below the newspaper scan from that day... 

Sridevi's top billing for Chaand Kaa Tukdaa: 90s

For a leading lady to have about the title placement, for higher billing than the 'hero', and of all stars, Salman Khan no less, is a reminder to current gen how massive a star she was. Sridevi's power, aura, oversized stardom eclipsed many of her co-stars (much to their voluble chagrin) and she went about her ways with such elegant ease. 

Chaand kaa Tukdaa was... just God-awful. Tbh, the earlier Salman-Saawan Kumar Tak collab, Sanam Bewafaa, wasn't particularly great either but luck favoured the film and it went on to be a massive success - that same luck didn't extend to this catastrophe. 

Some of the songs live on and in parts the leads looked great. Less said the better. 

Released on this date 30 years ago.