Sridevi and her costars: Vinod Khanna, Rajesh Khanna, Mithun, Govinda, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Jeetendra

 The range, the colours, the outfits, the music, the costumes, the poses... glorious 80s in Bollywood. And early 90s! 

Sridevi and her costars: Vinod Khanna, Rajesh Khanna, Mithun, Govinda, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Jeetendra  

Sridevi and her costars: Rajinikanth, Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan

A fine observation by Anil Kapoor, "She [Sridevi] wanted to be the best even at the cost of sacrificing her personal life."

 ...well, all except Saif Ali Khan, who did a Filmfare cover shoot with Sridevi, but no film! 

Sridevi with Bollywood's Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, and her frequent co-star across Tamil and Hindi films, Rajinikanth. 

Sridevi and her costars: Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Deepak Malhotra, Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Rishi Kapoor

Sridevi and her costars: Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Deepak Malhotra, Rishi Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Nagarjuna. 

 

Akshay Kumar, "I have great regard for Sridevi"

 

G magazine: Is it your wish then, that Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin is stuck? People insist that you are getting back at Sridevi for not giving dates for the film when you were not doing well... 

Akshay Kumar: That’s not true... I’d never do it. Specially, not to her. I have great regard for her. Besides she never created problems for dates. The film is 95 per cent complete. It’s stuck because of the problems between the producers and the financiers. 

-- Akshay Kumar-G Magazine 1996

Sridevi and Akshay Kumar's viral photo shoot: 1994 covers

TBT to 1994: Sridevi, 31, and Akshay Kumar, 27, did a photoshoot for Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin - and pre Instagram and social media, these photos went viral and were published as cover shots in several tabloids. Just four years older than Akshay Kumar but looking great together, the movie, had it been completed as planned instead of the hack-job that was released, could have looked great and done well - as its original Tamil version had done. Alas. The film is unwatchable - but we've seen the songs seveeral times as the two stars look and danced so well together. 

Sridevi and her co-stars in Bollywood: Akshay Kumar, Jeetendra, Nagarjuna, Anil Kapoor

Sridevi and her co-stars in Bollywood: Akshay Kumar, Jeetendra, Nagarjuna, Anil Kapoor 

 

Sudden Impact: Akshay Kumar confesses he was a longtime fan of Sridevi

Considered the most shrewd businessman in Showbizz, the wildly successful Bollywood star, Akshay Kumar, confessed in the early 90s that he was a huge fan of Sridevi. This archival feature published in MOVIE magazine. 

Currently on top of the box-office, Akshay Kumar is enjoying life and success like never before.

'Akshay Kumar: "While washing dishes in Bangkok, I would watch Sridevi on TV!" Now he can't believe he's working with her'
 

Happy Birthday Akshay Kumar: Superstar turns 54 today

 

It's Akshay Kumar's 54the birthday today - although celebrations are notably absent this year as he lost his mother earlier this week. 

Seen here with his favourite Indian actress Sridevi, from a promotional shoot for the film Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin back in early 1994. 

Akshay was just four years younger than Sridevi but the two tall stars looked so good together in the publicity stills.  She matched his height, he tried to match her stature. At the time, Sridevi was the reigning queen of Bollywood while Akshay was just four years in the industry, riding the wave of Khiladi success. And what a player he ended up being; one of the highest earning stars of his time now. Like she was in hers. 

Sridevi with Akshay Kumar in Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin

Images from 1994 - but the film was released, half baked at 2004!

The tragedy of Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin.., 

So many talents behind the scenes but what a fiasco  - and again, why release a barely complete film? There should have been more thought to this. 

Left: Rare picture of Sridevi with Akshay Kumar and director Pankaj Parasher on the sets of Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin. 

Q: One more controversy. We hear an old film of yours with Sridevi, Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin, is going to release soon. But has it been completed?

Akshay Kumar: No, the film is not complete. I haven't dubbed for it yet because they haven't paid me my money. How can they release the film? I have filed a complaint with the Cine Artistes Association. I will take legal action against them if they try to release the film as it is.

-- Filmfare Magazine 2004

Akshay Kumar with Sridevi on the sets of Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin in 1994

Akshay Kumar with Sridevi on the sets of the Hindi film Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin back in 1994! This pull quote from the article shows how powerful Sridevi was back then, not only were scripts written with her in mind and title roles served on a silver platter, she had the power to decide who could be in and out of her films. 

Lols to Beat Monday Blues: Akshay Kumar on Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin and crushing on Sridevi

Lols to Beat Monday Blues: Akshay Kumar talks about the incomplete film Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin and crushing on Sridevi during his chat on Koffee with Karan. 

Easily one of the worst films... quasi-made... we wish it had never released the way it was. Irony being, we used to pray to see the movie, we were so enthusiastic after watching a song on Lehrein. Akshay Kumar and Sridevi looked so good together. But the film 

Akshay Kumar sheds light on the absurdity of the film's release, completion. 

On the other hand, he did get to work with his crush; 'the' Sridevi.