Shabana Azmi with Sridevi, Boney Kapoor and Anil Kapoor at Manish Malhotra's Show 2006: Shabana, "I like Sridevi very much"

Bollywood Actors Shabana Azmi, Sridevi, film producer Boney Kapoor and actor Anil Kapoor at designer Manish Malhotra's show during Lakme Fashion Week.
Mumbai, Tuesday, 28 March 2006.

If Sridevi was considered queen of the marquee in Bollywood throughout the 1980s and '90s, Shabana Azmi was hailed as the definitive Indian thespian, bar none. Despite two divergent styles of the creative form, the duo had and still have tremendous respect for the other. While Sridevi was ruling the box-office with ghaghra-clad ease, Shabana Azmi, 13 years her senior, was collecting Best Actress trophies by the dozen. When Sridevi entered Bollywood, she had little interest in the artistic side of films, she was all about commercial cinema and stated as much. Her innate talent shone through despite that - and its a testament to her monumental talents as an artist. What Shabana Azmi can do on screen, so can Sridevi. But can Ms Azmi do a dance number among pots and pans with ease and similar conviction? Doubt.... 

Filmfare Best Actress nominations in 1984 - Azmi won for Arth

It's a frivolous question, so let's not delve further. Both had parallel lanes in Indian cinema and were fans of each other. 

Below are are excerpts from Ms Azmi (published in Filmfare over the years) regarding Bollywood Queen, Sridevi. 

Shabana Azmi about Sridevi:

FILMFARE: Which heroines do you find worth your while?
Shabana Azmi: "Sridevi is very good. Lots of actresses have shaped themselves in the Sridevi mould, be it Madhuri Dixit or Juhi Chawla. Sridevi was the first heroine to bring energy to her performances, not only in the dances but also in the acting.

Before that we were enamoured by Rekha. Looking good was the ultimate then. So there was no distortion even if Rekha lay dying. She looked perfect even in death. Sridevi came in like a breath of fresh air, not afraid of making faces. A lot of that she acquired from Kamal Haasan. She has a flair for comedy. And she wasn't shy, she didn't care if she was hampered by the fact that she didn't know the Hindi language well. She's lovely, I like Sridevi very much..."
-- FILMFARE, June 1996

Shabana Azmi, "Sridevi was the first heroine to bring energy to her performances, not only in the dances but also in the acting. Before that we were enamoured by Rekha. Looking good was the ultimate then. So there was no distortion even if Rekha lay dying. She looked perfect even in death. Sridevi came in like a breath of fresh air, not afraid of making faces..."

-- Excerpt from MOVIE magazine - TBC, To be confirmed...