The Hindi version of the original is so faithful, its really difficult for us to gage at quick glance, images from the films - we often don't know which is which...
Moondram Pirai released on 19 February 1982 and became a classic that still touches hearts decades later. It was a massive critical and commercial hit, running in theatres for over a year – proof of how deeply it connected with audiences. The film swept awards left and right: Kamal Haasan won the National Film Award for Best Actor, while Balu Mahendra took home Best Cinematography. Balu sir also bagged Best Director – Tamil at the Filmfare Awards South, and it earned five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, including Best Film (third prize), Best Actor for Kamal, and Best Actress for our eternal queen, Sridevi. Balu Mahendra later remade this gem in Hindi as Sadma (1983), with Kamal, Sridevi, and Silk Smitha reprising their unforgettable, iconic roles – carrying that same magic across languages. This film remains one of Sridevi's most cherished masterpieces, a poetic tragedy seeped in love, innocence, and heartbreak that fans still talk about...
The film was categorised as an "Adult" film; but for those looking for cheap thrills and eros; you'll be left disappointed. It's adult in theme, profundity, maturity and gravitas; youngsters will find the ennui, soul-crushing final reel especially, slow and possibly unpalatable. Ya need some dents and breaks in life to fully appreciate this movie and its summary of a crestfallen life.
Reading up on the movie, when Kamal Haasan revealed that he saw it as a retelling of the real-life tragedy of the director and his late wife, it makes the heartbreak cut deeper. How the director channeled his grief, to create and morph his study, threaded by soul-crushing sorrow, to make this movie is surreal. He didn't mirror reality, but repurposed it for cinema.
Sridevi was 18 when she shot the film - and several noteworthy critics state its her single best performance rounding up her entirely dazzling career. If she never made a film again, Sridevi would have found her place in the pantheon of great Tamil cinema through this singular performance. But she had several mountains to climb.
I've always stated that several actresses have that one movie that defines them; Rekha with Umrao Jaan, Meena Kumari with Pakeeza, Nagis with Mother India, Waheeda Rehman with Guide, so and so forth. Sridevi had a dozen incredible, career defining alter egos on film. You can pick any other film as her career best, and none of you would be wrong.
54 years of Sridevi on earth; 50 of which spent on film.
