The fine art of Cinema Hoardings: The Chaalbaaz Spread: TBT to 1989

 

I wonder where all this art is... the hoardings of Chaalbaaz that were once painted across Mumbai city. 

Sridevi dominating the publicity stills. 

The Bollywood poster art is its own genre. 

Rare pic: Sridevi in and as Banjaran

 

A rare black and white pic of Sridevi on the sets of her (surprise!) smash hit, the widly colourful, musical Banjaran. The hodge podge reincarnation revenge drama with loads of set song and dance routines was a cacophenous mess that was compeltely written off on initial release (we have the reviews in the archive - none were generous with praise!). 

However, a definition of a cult following, the film found its own footing despite the handful of all-powerful reviewers (back then!) had announced to readers that it wasn't worth the price of the ticket. Well, little did they know. Audiences lapped it up - even now. Look at the stats for the songs and dances on YouTube, while contemporary songs struggle to hit the 1 million or 2 million views mark, Banjaran songs passed 100 million views a long time ago. As we publish this, Banjaran's title song has 350 million views, the others collectively have passed even more (its been fragmented as several handles have posted the same songs).

Sridevi and her signature blue sari

Throwback to circa 1991-1992 when Sridevi arrived in a simple blue chiffon sari at an event--a rare occurrence--for co-star and friend Poonam Dhillon, as Poonam launched a new venture in Bollywood; the prized vanity van for stars. 

More images and feature in the archive here.

When I first saw these cleaned up pics on Instagram, thought, oh its AI images but found the original source too, here and here. It's one thing to clean up images and sharpen them, but another to 

 

Sridevi and her plats

Sridevi and her famous plats.

When the Telugu film industry first discovered Divya Bharthi, they styled her a lot like Sri intentionally, referencing her popular looks. Divya had her own style and way of being and acted in her own way, not like an imitation of an iconic star. 
 

Sridevi fan art

 

Sridevi and her costars: Rajinikanth, Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan

A fine observation by Anil Kapoor, "She [Sridevi] wanted to be the best even at the cost of sacrificing her personal life."

 ...well, all except Saif Ali Khan, who did a Filmfare cover shoot with Sridevi, but no film! 

Sridevi with Bollywood's Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, and her frequent co-star across Tamil and Hindi films, Rajinikanth. 

Now and then: Sridevi

Sridevi in 1989, Sridevi in 2012. 

An outtake from MOVIE magazine's cover shoot from the 80s, Sridevi in Toronto during promotions and premiere of English Vinglish in 2012.