Sridevi with Rekha on set

Throwback to the mid 1980s; Rekha dropped by to visit good friend Sridevi while Sri was shooting for a song and dance routine in Nazrana.

Sridevi: Keeps her hat on! 16-year-old Sridevi

Young teenaged Sridevi in the Telugu film... er... anyone recognise the movie?! 

UPDATE: Sridevi from the Telugu film Kaksha back in 1980.  

The 1980 Telugu Action Hit That Marked a Director’s Promising Debut

Kaksha (“Revenge”) emerged as a notable commercial success. Released on 28 March 1980, the film was produced by the legendary D. Ramanaidu under the banner of Suresh Productions and directed by V. C. Guhanathan in his Telugu directorial debut. With energetic action sequences, drama, and strong performances, Kaksha resonated well with audiences, earning a solid box-office verdict as a commercial hit.

The story revolves around themes of revenge and personal vendetta, typical of the era’s high-octane action dramas. The narrative follows a protagonist driven by tragedy and injustice, navigating family conflicts, intrigue, and redemption. The film blends intense action with heartfelt emotional arcs, a formula that appealed to Telugu moviegoers of the time. 

Music by K. Chakravarthy added to its appeal, complementing the dramatic tone. At the heart of Kaksha was a powerful cast led by veteran star Sobhan Babu in the lead role. Sridevi, then a rising young sensation, played the female lead, bringing her brand of charm and youthful appeal to the screen. 

Supporting roles featured talented actors including Jayachitra, Gummadi, Murali Mohan, Kaikala Satyanarayana, and Mohan Babu, among others. 

A striking aspect of the film was the significant age difference between its lead pair. Sridevi, was just 16 years old (turning 17 later that year) during the film’s release—already an established actress transitioning from child roles to lead parts. Her co-star Sobhan Babu, born on 14 January 1937, was 43 years old, showcasing the common on-screen pairings of the period where seasoned heroes shared the frame with youthful heroines.

Kaksha stands as a reminder of Telugu cinema’s 1980s dynamism, where action-packed revenge sagas thrived. The full movie is still available on platforms like YouTube via Suresh Productions, offering viewers a chance to revisit this classic hit. 

Rarely seen Sridevi pics from the family album

Boney Kapoor with Sridevi 

 

This Chamikla Newsbyte: Anyone fact checking? Calling bullsh** on this Sridevi and Chamkila film collab

This newsbyte has cropped up again and I'm calling Bullshit on it. 

This story has all the hallmarks of speculative, hearsay-driven film journalism that spreads like wildfire without verification, a newsbyte that cropped up around the 2024 Netflix biopic Chamkila (starring the fantastic Diljit Dosanjh). A genuinely moving film that was beautifully made, what irked us Sridevi fans and historians is this side-note that became popular fiction disguised as fact. 

Multiple major outlets (Times of India, Hindustan Times, WION, DNA, News18, etc.) repeated nearly identical versions of the anecdote in April 2024 and even later in 2025, but it all traces back to a single source: an old YouTube interview with Sawarn Sivia, described as Chamkila's close friend and lyricist.  

Key issues with the claim stem from this, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Sridevi was a producer / offered him to be hero in her film": Sridevi was primarily an actress in the 1980s. She didn't step into production/co-production roles until much later (post-marriage to Boney Kapoor, more prominently in the late 1990s - and post marriage and baby). The story implies she was actively producing or backing a project where she could cast an unknown (to Bollywood) folk singer as the male lead opposite her. That's a massive leap for the era and is simply not factual. 

Firstly, there's a timeline mismatch: Chamkila was assassinated on 8 March 1988 at age 27, at the peak of his Punjab popularity but during the height of the Punjab insurgency. Sridevi was a massive pan-Indian star by then (huge in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu cinema), but her producing phase and greater creative control came much, much later. A collaboration "couldn't happen" because he died young, but the offer itself would have had to predate 1988 - when Sridevi was averaging 12 film releases a year with already established mega-stars. With all due respect to the singer and his legacy, he was mostly known in one state and had not made the pan-Indian crossover. 

Secondly, there's the language and background realities: Sridevi's mother tongue was Telugu; she started in South Indian films as a child artist and reportedly had limited Hindi proficiency early on (she learned dialogues phonetically for her initial Bollywood work). The story has her casually offering to "train him in Hindi in a month" while also pivoting to a Punjabi film—feels convenient but not logical. Chamkila was a raw Punjabi folk sensation, not a Hindi-film aspirant. His appeal was deeply rooted in village/Punjab audiences with explicit, folk-style lyrics performed live. Sridevi herself was struggling with language difficulties and how on earth (let alone why on earth) was she going to teach anyone Mumbai Hindi?!  

Thirdly, Chamkila's fame level: He was enormous within Punjab—often called the "Elvis of Punjab," highest record-seller, doing hundreds of live shows a year, with massive local cassette sales and stage frenzy. But he wasn't a national/Hindi cinema crossover figure. This was all pre-social media, Bollywood rarely plucked folk singers from regional circuits to play heroes opposite superstars like Sridevi without some established bridge. Many of the film producers might have been college-illiterate but they weren't stupid with money! The story somewhat inflates his pan-Indian visibility to Diljit-era levels. This simply wasn't true! 

Source quality: It's second-hand recollection from a friend decades later. No contemporary reports, no photos, no co-stars/producers confirming it, no paper trail from the 1980s - nearly all of which we've archived here. If it was published in Punjabi tabloids - we don't have it - and Sridevi certainly didn't! This is classic "friend of the legend said..." material that gets recycled because it makes for a juicy "what if" headline tying a Punjabi icon to a Bollywood legend. 

When you look back at Sridevi's Hindi filmography, Sridevi rarely acted with newcomers, in fact, only one name comes to mind; Kunal Goswami, son of Manoj Kumar. In Hindi films, Sridevi worked with establishes stars Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor. Launching a hero using the coattails of Sridevi's superstardom, just wasn't a thing in the 1980s. Especially for an established superstar like Sridevi who could not have been busier; 1986, Sridevi appeared in 14 films, in 1987: 9 films and in 1988: 6 films (or 7 including cameo). At what juncture would she have the time of a day for an unknown entity in her orbit?!  

Film journalism (especially in India) loves these unverified celebrity anecdotes— they drive clicks, fit nostalgia narratives, and tie into the Chamkila movie hype. Once one outlet runs with "reveals his friend," others copy-paste without basic cross-checks on timelines, Sridevi's career stage, or independent corroboration. 

No major fact-check seems to have debunked it outright; well, we are doing it NOW.

It is mostly presented as colourful trivia and several points hold up well on scrutiny: the power dynamics, language barriers, production realities, and regional vs. national fame don't align neatly for a straightforward "Sridevi offered him the hero role" story in the mid-80s. It could be a garbled kernel of truth (maybe she heard a song and liked it), heavily embroidered over time. This is a textbook case of how hearsay becomes "reported fact" in entertainment media. Pre-internet stories from the 1980s are especially prone to this—memories fade, details shift, and no one has incentive to question a feel-good (or "missed opportunity") tale. 

The lack of fact-checking - alacrity over accuracy - is rife on social media. We refuse to fall for it. 

Kapil Sharma with Sridevi and Boney Kapoor at Filmfare Awards 2017

Wishing standup comic Kapil Sharma the very best today - the most famous Indian comic today turns 45. 

During the 62nd Filmfare Awards back in 2017, the emcee of the night, Sharma had a fun, cheeky moment with Sridevi and Boney Kapoor while talking about the 2016 demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1000 notes.

He turned to the front row, looked at Sridevi and playfully asked how she was managing her ghar ka kharcha after the note ban, teasing her that she must have had “piles of cash” stashed away at home. Sridevi, being the sport she always was, burst out laughing and took the joke beautifully, turning it into one of those light, memorable filmy moments with Kapil.

Kapil has repeated said on his show (in all its avatars!) that Sridevi was one of his favourite actresses - it would have been fun to see Sri and Kapil share the stage together - alas. Just wasn't meant to be.

Lucky for Kapil - he did run into her at an event years before he became the multi-crore earing Netflix superstar. 

PS: More than Kapil though, in absolute awe of the chameleon comic brilliance of Sunil Grover. He was great as Gulzar, Mithun, Dharmendra (in the past), and so on. But his capture of Salman Khan and recently of Kader Khan has been next level. They need to create a special award just for him. 

The Fake pic: The Real Pic: Sridevi, Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna get modified: FOR NO SANE REASON!

Another example of trickery; the left pic is the fake one, the above, the real. 

Why bother creating such elaborate ai pics - I recognise that it only takes seconds - but why, WHY make fake images? 

April Fool Banaya Toh Unko Gussa Aaya: Sridevi: Queen of Comedy

 April Fool Banaya Toh Unko Gussa Aaya: Sridevi: Queen of Comedy 

Archive of Sridevi's comedies here.