Sridevi and Anil Kapoor: Pre publicity shoot for Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja

Sridevi and Anil Kapoor: Pre publicity shoot for Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja 
 

Released on 16 April 1993, it was known as the most expensive flop film of its time. Bollywood being Bollywood, now its not even on the top ten film fiascos. 

Rarely seen stills of Sridevi and Anil Kapoor on the sets of Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja

Rarely seen stills of Sridevi and Anil Kapoor on the sets of Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja

It's not "unseen", nor "never published" as that's categorically false. Social media captions are a sub-editor's terror; typos, misinformation and wild inaccuracies. 

Released on 16 April 1993, it was THE most anticipated film of the 90s... but, well, you all know what happened... 

Sridevi in and as Banjaran: The hot pink costume

Sridevi in and as Banjaran: The hot pink costume 

TBT: Sridevi's last birthday hosted by celebrity designer (and best friend) Manish Malhotra: Aishwarya Rai, Rekha, Vidya Balan, Rani Mukherjee, Tina Munim, Shabana Azmi attend

Throwback to 2017! Manish Malhotra hosted a party to celebrate Sridevi’s 54th birthday, and of course, the entire crème de la crème of Bollywood showed up; an A-list line up of iconic Indian actresses celebrating the female fraternity of film icons. It turned into this rare, magical gathering where actresses of note from different generations came together, looking absolutely stunning and owning every bit of their power. 

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Vidya Balan, Rani Mukerji, Rekha, Tina Ambani, and of course, the birthday girl Sridevi herself — all in one room, smiling, laughing, and clicking those gorgeous photos that just scream timeless elegance and sisterhood.

Vidya Balan looked completely starstruck, like she couldn’t believe she was sharing the same space with all her idols under one roof; Filmfare Awards nite would have died to get this lineup together for a cover, let alone their (increasingly questionable) awards ceremony. 

The energy must have been unreal. I can’t stop wondering what these fierce, legendary women were talking about. Was it scripts, life, family… or were they secretly plotting global domination with their unmatched talent and grace? Or maybe they were just laughing about how the media loves to pit strong women against each other and create unnecessary drama where none exists.

Either way, it was such a refreshing sight — real admiration, no shade, just pure celebration of each other’s journeys. 

Big shoutout and blessings to Manish Malhotra for always creating these special spaces where Bollywood’s most powerful female forces can come together, bond, and shine unapologetically. 

More of this please!

Tohfa: Biggest hit of 1984! Jeetendra, Sridevi and Jaya Prada arrive in 80s style!

 

Above: The cast and crew of Tohfa line up at the diamond jubilee celebrations; from L to R: Bappi Lahiri (the film's music director), Shakti Kapoor, ?, Jaya Prada, film producer D. Ramandaidu, Sridevi, Rajiv Kapoor, Jeetendra, K Raghavendra Rao and comedian, the legendary Asrani.  

A runaway success, the movie was the biggest hit of 1984. For the glamorous celebration of the Bollywood blockbuster, Jeetendra, Sridevi and Jaya Prada arrived all glam'd up! Silver jubilee functions were the norm in the era (ie a film celebrating a long, enduring run of 25 weeks!). Well, Tohfa was still running strong 60 weeks in, so the producers threw a lavish party and invited the Hindi film industry. 

Producer D. Ramanaidu and director K. Raghavendra Rao were beaming ear to ear as their modest budget film ran for over 25 weeks and was unbeatable at the box-office despite a jam packed year that included Amitabh Bachchan's Sharaabi and Inquilaab, Dilip Kumar and Yash Chopra's Mashaal and a slew of Rajesh Khanna films. To celebrate the silver jubilee, producer D. Rama Naidu hosted a lavish party at Adyar Gate Hotel, Madras, on April 14, 1985.

More images are in the archive of course! 

Throwback Tuesday: Sridevi and Anil Kapoor attend event for good friend Chiranjeevi: TBT to 1996

 

Anil Kapoor and Sridevi attended Telugu film Hitler's inauguration as VIP guests (1996)

click to enlarge

Chiranjeevi's film Hitler (released January 1997) is a Telugu drama film directed by Muthyala Subbaiah. It is a remake of the 1996 Malayalam hit Hitler starring Mammootty. The movie marked a significant career milestone for Chiranjeevi after a period of relative underperformance and a one-year hiatus. 

Chiranjeevi plays Madhav Rao (nicknamed "Hitler" for his strict, disciplinarian nature), a protective elder brother and jailer who raises his five younger sisters with iron-fisted rules while shielding them from the outside world. 

Sridevi on the sets of the Tamil film Naan Adimai Illai (1986)

Sridevi on the sets of the Tamil film Naan Adimai Illai (1986)

A dozen pics of this look in the archive here - where Sridevi finds herself next to Jaya Prada and co-star Rajinikanth.