Sridevi in Nigahein: The real still and the fake pic

Sridevi in Nigahein: The real still and the fake pic 
 

Sridevi in the Tamil classic Johnny (1980)

Sridevi, 17, in the Tamil classic Johnny (1980)

Sridevi on the sets of Mr.India

Sridevi on the sets of the title song of Mr.India. From the costume, comedy song that she--predictably--aced. 

Sridevi in Aakhari Poratam (1988)

Sridevi in Aakhari Poratam (1988)
 

Sridevi's first Hindi film as a leading lady: Solva Sawan (1979)

Sridevi's first Hindi film as a leading lady: Solva Sawan (1979). 

At age 16, starlet Sridevi stepped unsteadily into the Hindi film industry with this third remake of 16th Spring ie the Tamil original 16 Vayathinile (1977) and Telugu Padaharella Vayasu (1978), which was re-shot frame by frame with different actors to serve the Hindi belt - except for the exceptional leading lady, Sridevi. A lot changed in the Hindi revamp, the music, the lyrics, several key actors. 

Unlike its predecessors, the film was a critical and commercial flop. Even for a hardcore Sridevi fan like moi, watching the Hindi version with Amol Palekar as Sridevi's love interest--who was 19 years older than Sridevi and looked it--was difficult to stomach. Somehow, there was a 'watchability' to the Tamil original with its stellar cast of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan } the holy trinity of Tollywood. 

Sadly, Sridevi didn't enjoy the Hindi remake, the film tanked and the awkward, gawky teen who spoke no Hindi and barely spoke English returned to Madras studios, where she had innumerable films waiting in the wings. 

Biding her time, it took another four years, a head-to-toe makeover, and Sridevi would return with a bang... Or should I say banger, with Nainon main sapna in Himmatwala (1983). 

PS: Have no official record of when Solva Saawan released in 1979, but the original 16 Vayathinile released on 15 September 1977 ie 47 years ago today. 

Vintage Maadhavi and Sridevi

Born on Sept 14, Telegu actress Maadhavi was just a year older than Sridevi. 

Not sure if Maadhavi and Sridevi posed for this together or its a camera trick for the cover of Malayalam tabloid.  

When you look at the filmography of the two contemporaries, it ran parallel together, except Sridevi's box-office was greater. Both were similar age, both worked in Tamil, Telegu, Malayalm, Hindi, Kannada films, both did nearly 300 movies, both were hard-working gifted actresses, had their fan clubs and awards, box-office, they shared co-stars like Kamal Haasan, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and so on. However, their career graphs and indeed life turned out very different. 

Sridevi said in one of her introspective interviews that fate and destiny had to be on your side for success. Think about it, there are so many talented, beautiful, gifted, dancers, actors that work really hard but fate didn't favour them, they didn't find pan-Indian, national and international success like Sridevi did. 

When we look at Maadhavi, Raadha, Meenakshi Sesadiri, Bhanupriya, Shantipriya, and to a certain extent even Jaya Prada, they never reached the peaks of Sridevi despite having all the ingredients and efforts to make it as a superstar. 

Maadhavi was a lovely actress, but she wasn't in the top five league. But then her agenda was different back then too. When she got married and totally cut off from the lure of tinsel town... 

She came back and conquered: Sridevi in English Vinglish: 12 year anniversary!

 

On this day, back in 14 September 2012, English Vinglish opened to universal acclaim. Glorious Sridevi elevated the experience. As Boney Kapoor revealed earlier this year in 2024 that Aishwarya Rai was in the reckoning to lead the film, we are so glad fates intervened as rarely have we seen an actor OWN the part like no one else.

In fact, Sridevi has done this several times. Chandni was supposed to have Rekha, Nagina was originally offered to Jaya Prada, and Sadma went to Dimple Kapadia briefly... In hindsight, now you can imagine any of these roles belong to anyone beyond Sridevi.