Sridevi: East or West: Sridevi was the best: Flashback Friday to the 1980s!

 Sridevi: East or West: Sridevi was the best: Flashback Friday to the 1980s!

Sridevi

 

Sridevi and her Filmfare Award(s)

Pretty in pink, shy Sridevi heading up to the dais to collect her Best Actress Filmfare trophy for Lamhe back in 1992 is such an enduring memory.

The film recovered its costs eventually, but the movie was considered a flop upon initial release - and went on to have a cult following. In fact, most fans of Sridevi outside of India state that Lamhe is their all-time favourite film and performance of Sri. 

We have an archive of all of Sridevi's awards and accolades here.

A gallery of images of Sridevi with every Filmfare Award she's won here. 

Major performance wins for Sridevi include several Filmfare Awards (around 5 wins, including Meendum Kokila, Chaalbaaz, Lamhe, Kshana Kshanam, plus (questionable) retrospective mentions for films like Mr. India and Nagina in some contexts), a National Film Award for Best Actress (posthumous for Mom in 2018), state awards (e.g., Kerala State Film Award as child artist, Tamil Nadu State Film Award, Nandi Award), IIFA Best Actress (for Mom), and others from her 2012 comeback like Stardust, Hello Hall of Fame, etc tally up to about 30 to 35 major honours for "the great Sridevi." 

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! 

Mr. India premiere: Shekhar Kapur, Boney Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Javed Akhtar...

 

The cast and crew of Mr.India at the grand premiere in Mumbai. 

Can you recognise all the icons?! 

Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit on the cover of Hindi Filmfare in the early 1990s

Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit on the cover of Hindi Filmfare in the early 1990s. 

 Not a single editor could get the two to share a cover, nor director or producer! It's our loss entirely. 

Queen of comedy: Sridevi in Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja

Queen of comedy: Sridevi in Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja