Remembering Sridevi's first Hindi film: Solva Saawan! With co-star Amol Palekar who is 80!

I know of very few people who have seen Sridevi's first Hindi film as a leading lady, the notorious flop Solwa Saawan which released back in the day... 47 years ago, ie on 22 January 1979! 

With co-star, the fine actor/now director Amol Palekar who was 19 years older than her, When Sridevi was working in the film, she was 15 and the movie was a remake of Bharathiraja's own Tamil film 16 Vayathinile (1977), which also starred Sridevi, who reprised the role in all its remakes. In Stardust, in jest she had written that she found remakes boring to do... unless the movie was a hit!  

Solwa Saawan had great music and decent performances across the board but, in truth, the film is only remembered for the distinction it had - it marked Sridevi's debut as a heroine in Hindi cinema following an already successful and established career in South Indian cinema spanning Tamil and Telugu films (and somewhat in Malayalam). Unlike the original, the film was a critical and commercial failure which Sridevi spoke of briefly. Sridevi had the utmost respect and admiration for her senior co-star, the gentle and gifted Amol Palekar, who just turned 80 last November. He spoke of the shock of losing Sridevi in earlier press interactions.   

Both Amol and Sridevi spoke well of each other - as icons recognise each other! 

Sridevi: New addition to Hindi stars from South: Throwback Tuesday

Throwback to 1979! Sridevi's first Hindi film launch party. 
 

Sridevi's first Hindi film co-star remembers her fondly: Amol Palekar

PUNE: “It was heart-wrenching. This is not the age,” was Amol Palekar’s reaction when he heard the news of Sridevi’s sudden demise on Sunday.

The 54-year-old actress had died of a cardiac arrest in Dubai [*First official report suggested Sridevi had a heart-attack]. The moment Palekar heard, memories of his long association with Sridevi came flooding back.

Introduced to each other by Kamal Haasan, Palekar was Sridevi’s co-star in her Hindi debut film, ‘Solva Sawan’ (1979).

“It was an absolutely fascinating experience,” Palekar told TOI, reminiscing about shooting that film. “We forged a good friendship. She was extremely young, and I still remember how shy and guarded she was, as she was not very comfortable speaking English,” he recalled.

‘Solva Sawan’ was the Hindi remake of a 1977 Tamil film starring Sridevi and Haasan. “Kamal called me and told me about ’Pathinaru Vayathinile’, which needed a Hindi remake. He said only I could do the lead role. I watched the original and said Sridevi must act in the Hindi remake too. So I met her at her residence,” he recalled.

To this day. Palekar rues the fact that the Hindi film industry never witnessed Sridevi achieve her full acting potential. “If you watch her in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, you’ll know what a superb actress she was,” Palekar said. “It was hardly seen in Hindi films, compared to her work in Tamil films, especially those by K Balachander and Balu Mahendra. (She was) absolutely to be admired and loved,” Palekar said.

While shooting ‘Solva Sawan’, Palekar said, Sridevi and he became close friends. So much so, every evening after the shoot, Palekar and Sridevi would chat away. She would share anecdotes from her South Indian films, working alongside actors like Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. “At the time, both Kamal and Rajnikanth had yet to achieve superstardom. She acted in some beautiful films alongside them, directed by Balachander and Mahendra. I had seen those films and so, we would chat a lot about those films, about her performances; it was a wonderful experience,” Palekar said.

Among the fan mail Palekar got, following the release of ‘Solva Sawan’, was a letter by Surinder Kapoor, the father of Anil and Boney Kapoor. The letter sang Sridevi’s praises. “He wrote a very beautiful letter praising the film, my performance, among others. In the last para, he wrote, ‘Sridevi is such a lovely, fresh, vivacious young girl. I was quite surprised to find such a talented actor and I am sure she will go along way,’” Palekar said.

Sridevi was thrilled to hear about the letter.

Then, as time progressed, they drifted apart. “It wasn’t a cut, but a dissolve, a slow dissolve, as we say in show business,” he said.

They did bump into each other at the odd function. At one such gig, Palekar recalled, he was sitting in a corner when Sridevi spotted him and made a beeline for him. “She was a big star by then, with roles in ‘Mr India’ and other successful films. But she chatted with me with the same old affection,” Palekar said, “She was still shy, of course, but she had matured and grown up so beautifully.”

He added: “In fact, she sat with me throughout that function. We kept chatting and reminiscing our time shooting that first film.”

More images and info on Sridevi's first Hindi film - Solva Saawan (1979) - here.  

Sridevi's first Hindi film as a leading lady, Solvaa Saawan (1979)

The first Hindi film of Sridevi as a leading lady was Solvaa Saawan, a remake of her own Tamil film 16 Vayathinile. However, in its Hindi incarnation, unlike the Tamil original, the movie flopped badly at the box-office. Sridevi was just 16 when the film released and as the film nose-dived, she thought her career in Bollywood was a fail-start. She packed her bags and returned to Madras*, vowing never to return. (*Madras became Chennai in 1998!). 

Solvaa Saawan was directed by Bharathi Rajaa, with cinematography by P.S.Nivas, with leading lady Sridevi, actors Amol Palekar, Madhukar and Dina Pathak. The film score was composed by Jai Dev.

In her debut role as a heroine, Sridevi (herself 16 when the film was shot) plays the 16-year-old Mehna, who refuses the advances of a mentally challenged character played be Amol Palekar. Mehna falls in love with a city vet but refuses to commit to him, and finds herself being rejected in turn.

With this new perspective, Mehna begins to accept Amol Palekar's character and encourages him to defend himself against those who constantly mock him. But when an evil villager, played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda, attempts to rape Mehna, Palekar's character kills him by throwing a brick at his head. Palekar's character is arrested for murder, and the film concludes with Sridevi waiting in vain at a train station for his return.

The film (a remake of the South Indian hit 16 Vayathinile filmed two years earlier with Kamal Hassan and Rajnikanth) did not perform well despite pre-reports of a potential superhit  - like its Tamil predecessor.

Need to repeat this again (and again) but Sridevi was just 16 while the movie was shot and released and her co-star Amol Palekar was... 19 years older!! Palekar had just turned 35! This wasn't an exception but the norm, older actors with younger leading ladies is so common (even now!), it borders on the cliché. 

But, here's a point to note, Sridevi did say she had no qualms about working with her much older co-star. Back in 1979, the fine actor was having a career defining y ear - Palekar won one of his several Best Actor awards (eg below picture of Amol Palekar with his Best Actor win for Gol Maal in 1980 with Jaya Bachchan, who won Best Actress for Nauker). Sridevi often said she learned so much observing thespians and she's never interfered in the casting choices of her producers and directors. Having worked with actors 20, 30, 40 years older than her, this was nothing new for the newcomer. 

Sridevi on her first Hindi film, Solvaa Saawan.

Sridevi, "Solvaa Saawan was and still is a bad memory. I had earlier done the Tamil and Telugu versions of the same film, so by the time I got to the Hindi version, I was bored sick! Moreover, I didn’t know Hindi and I was most uncomfortable working in the alien atmosphere of Bombay. I was missing Madras terribly and I just wanted the film to be done and over with. One vivid memory of the film is my messing up the first take on the first day of shooting, which I’m very superstitious about. I knew then, that the film would be a flop. Secretly, I was quite happy because I thought that I wouldn’t have to work in the horrible place Bombay (laughs) anymore. I thought I’d go back, work for a couple of years more, get married, and go away. But God willed it otherwise. Only one thing worked in my favour. The first of my Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films were all terrible flops, after which I rose to the top in all the bilingual films. So Solva Saawan’s failure was in fact a good omen for better things to come.

Q: If Amol Palekar approached you for a film today, would you do it for purely sentimental reasons, considering that he was your first romantic lead in Hindi films?
A: Well frankly, I accept a film only on one criteria – the script and the quality of my role. If it was Amol Palekar, I’d definitely consider seeing his script and hearing him out. But further than that, it’s only my role that matters. But I am quite sure that if he approached me, he’d definitely have a very good script, because he’s a very fine actor. I remember his performances in Chitchor and Rajanigandha. I’ve also heard that he is a very talented director. And a good director can make the world of a difference to even a weak script.

Left: On the sets of Solvaa Sawan (1979), director P. Bharathiraja, Sridevi and Amol Palekar. The music was composed by Jaidev while cinematography was handled by P. S. Nivas. The remake of Bharathiraja's debut film 16 Vayathinile (1977), the original Tamil film had Kamal Hassan, Sridevi, and Rajinikanth. The film was also remade in Telugu Padaharella Vayasu (1978), again starring Sridevi in the titular role.

UPDATE: At the launch party of Solva Saawan, a very young Sridevi with her co-stars.

Left: A rare pic of Sridevi, age 16, with her first Hindi film co-star, Amol Paleka, 35. Solva Saawan was a remake and a major flop at the box-office.

Sridevi once again paired with a co-star more than double her age. A trend that has thankfully died down by now...