Sridevi: 90s Glamour: Neeta Lulla styles. Rakesh Shreshta photographs the Indian icon

 

Before there was Hollywood Reporter India, there was... Filmy Reporter!

The Hindi tabloid from the 80s is classic 80s film journalism; no quotes, gossip and innuendo, garish colours of all the top stars slapped together like a high school magazine cover with cutouts and square collages. But they were mindless fun! 

Sridevi, Mithun, Juhi Chawla, Jackie Shroff - the rockin' 80s. 

Sridevi's look from a song/dance scene in Guru - magazine from 1988!
 

Sridevi

 

Sridevi

Ram Avtar poster: Sridevi dominates yet again: 38 Year Anniversary today!

Starting to see clearly why Sunny Deol has resented Sridevi and her success, cultural dominance, presence and shine for so long. The OG MCP, he doesn't like his female costars to shine brighter than him. Can't believe he brought up Sridevi's name yet again in recent interviews. 

There's no greater gage for how big a star is than measuring the amount of real estate they take up in film posters. Sridevi's face, figure and outfits, the number of times her image is repeated all shows the power that she had over the audience. And over her co-stars. Much to the chagrin of not-so-Sunny-D.

When they first started working together, in Joshilay, Sunny Deol was the OG nepo baby, son of Dharmendra who had the lead part. Young Sridevi was 21 when she first started working with him. Though already a star down South (in both Tamil and Telugu film, known in Kannada and Malayalam films), she was a shy newcomer who didn't speak the language or speak to Sunny throughout the making of the movie! We all know Sridevi was notoriously shy, and so was Sunny Deol, but they had a quiet working relationship of complete non-interference. By the mid to late '80s, Sridevi pulled a 180; hits, title roles, double roles, she left Deol in the dust. After her rejecting a role in his home production, they never worked together again. I knew there was trouble in the 90s, when in an interview with Dinesh Raheja in MOVIE magazine, Sunny said, "I worked a lot with... whats-her-name, Sridevi too". Then he went on to drag her a little in Aap ki Adalat, then he posted a condolence message on Twitter - then deleted his post on Social media! In Baaje Payal, he appeared briefly and it's the most reluctant praise of Sridevi by a fellow actor, like pulling teeth. He said of Sridevi's dancing, "People say she's good, so she must be good!". Or something to that effect. Well, no one has ever said Sunny Deol's dancing is any good so why ask an opinion of someone who has none to give?  

Ram Avtar, the poor man's Sangam, was released on 20 May, 1988. Memorable for a Sridevi-Lata Mangehskar song - certainly not the performances of the male leads. 

Legend has it, Sridevi stated in a magazine article that "everything on paper was right about the film. The producers, cast, music, story. She had no idea why the public did not like the film."

To be honest, the movie is entertaining in tiny parts but mostly its loud, its not that funny in the comedic parts, in the dramatic parts plausibility is stretched to the limit, as the film's story is so obvious, it gets boring and predictable really fast. The fashion is.. well, of its time, and the mid 80s slop just doesn't work (the movie started production in 1984, and the film eventually released four years later in 1988). Sridevi's hair, fashion, size, style and trends change throughout the movie! 

Think mostly people remember the film for its songs and dances - little else. 

Ramya with Sridevi: Rarest photo of the two: The Abject Pointlessness of Comparing Ramya Krishnan and Sridevi

Comparing Ramya Krishnan and Sridevi is an exercise in futility that ignores timelines, contexts, and the vastly different eras they presided over. It reduces two talented actresses to a pointless rivalry narrative, especially when one had already achieved legendary status while the other was still navigating her career.

Sridevi (born August 13, 1963, in Tamil Nadu) was a child prodigy who debuted at age four in Kandhan Karunai (1967). She transitioned seamlessly into lead roles in Tamil and Telugu cinema before conquering Bollywood in the 1980s. Her career spanned over five decades until her tragic passing in 2018. The title of Bollywood’s first female superstar was handed to her (despite zero fact checking by contemporary media - but we'll get on that later!). Her expressive eyes, effortless dancing, and versatility across drama, comedy, and action made her a phenomenon. By her mid-20s, she had already cemented her legacy.

Ramya Krishnan (born September 15, 1970, in Chennai), roughly seven years younger that Sri, began her career around age 13 with Tamil and Telugu films in the early 1980s. She built a strong regional base, notably with powerful roles like Neelambari in Padayappa (1999). Her breakthrough in pan-Indian cinema came much later with Baahubali (2015-2017) as Sivagami, a commanding matriarchal figure that brought her widespread acclaim.

Ramya’s Bollywood attempts highlight the challenges of “failure to launch.” Despite opportunities with heavyweights like Yash Chopra (Parampara, 1993, which also starred a young Saif Ali Khan and Aamir Khan) and Subhash Ghai (Khalnayak), her Hindi outings didn’t catapult her to stardom. She was often paired with significantly older actors like Vinod Khanna, Feroz Khan and her appearance and roles sometimes positioned her as a more mature character actress early on. A huge misstep at a time when Bollywood loved to slot women into categories they couldn't escape from. Critics noted she wasn’t seen as a top-tier dancer compared to Sridevi’s legendary grace, and she faced body-shaming for being “a little on the heavy side,” some wrote she looked a lot older than she was (and tabloids stated she was lying about her age when she wasn't!), Her struggle in Bollywood was long and uphill - after an unmemorable performance in Bachchan-Govinda starrer Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan in 1998, she didn't appear in a Hindi film till 2022!   

The post-Baahubali comparisons were particularly absurd. Sridevi was largely semi-retired and had already shaped Indian cinema’s history. Ramya, even after the blockbuster, was (and remains) actively hustling in a far more competitive, fragmented industry. Subsequent films brought mixed results, and her high-decibel role as the hero’s mother in Liger (2022) drew criticism for over-the-top performances amid the film’s box-office failure, underscoring the limitations some perceived in her range for certain parts. 

Ramay followed the blueprint sketched by Sridevi; she's appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. She's found pan-Indian fame from mostly a singular film, while Sridevi's got about a dozen Hindi film she's known for, innumerable Tamil and Telugu films, and award-winning Malayalam movies. Ramya found fame later in life, she was 45 when Baahubali was a blockbuster. Sridevi was 20 when Himmatwala was the biggest hit of the year and 21 when she was declared Number One actress of India by the then media behemoth, Filmfare. Now, Ramya is well-known, but no one is calling her the Number One star of any industry; she's a popular working actress, in a cine culture that still marginalises women and worships at the altar of youth. whether their fame and influence be warranted or not. Bollywood also doesn't necessarily love talent as much as it loves ROI; return on investment. If we look at Sridevi's first two years in Hindi cinema, there are mostly box-office hits with little wiggle room to display histrionics. That she did when she was firmly established. Ramya's first few years were flop-filled, and when a movie did well, say a Khal-Nayak, credit went elsewhere; to the leads Sanjay Dutt-Madhuri Dixit, the music and of course that infamous song Choli ke peecheh. Ramya incredibly had the title song, but do we remember Dutt or Krishnan for it?! 

Forget Ramya, any actress being compared to Sridevi and her mighty power and prowess would be left worse for wear. Top billing, box-office, double-roles, title roles, awards, longevity, sheer volume of films across five languages - there are few who can level the late legend. 

Both are accomplished South Indian actresses who crossed into Hindi cinema, but their peaks, challenges, and industry landscapes differ enormously. Sridevi was a trailblazer who redefined stardom. Ramya is a resilient veteran with strong regional successes and memorable cameos in pan-Indian national hits. Forcing comparisons diminishes both—especially when one’s iconic run was largely complete before the other’s biggest moment. At this point, the pointless pitting should finally cease and desist. 

A.R.Rehman still watching Sridevi: Summer of 2026

Earlier today, A.R. Rehman, the Oscar-winning "Mozart of Madras", mentioned how he was just watching a Sridevi film earlier. He didn't mention which film - have an inkling its the 4k restoration of Moondram Pirai... ie the Sadma original.