... You've seen at least half of Sridevi's 70+ films in Hindi.... You can rattle of Sri's best dances: from Himmatwala's Nainon mein Sapna to Judaai's Pyar pyar karte karte.
... You OWN Sridevi's top ten films in either video cassette/vcd/dvd/blue ray, eg Sadma, Mr India, Nagina, Lamhe, Chandni, Chaalbaaz, Gumraah, Laadla, Khuda Gawah and the under appreciated but brilliant Jaag Utha Insaan.
... You've seen at least two of her South Indian films in Telugu, Tamil and/or in Malayalam.
... You couldn't speak when you met/saw/ran into Sridevi in person. And/or pray regularly that you would run into Sridevi at some point in your life to get and frame her autograph!
... You paid a semi-fortune to see Sridevi perform live on stage.
... You believe Sridevi truly has no competition and the paper war launched by the media was mostly fiction: Rekha, Jaya Prada, Bhanupriya, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla are just names on a list. Sridevi's irreplaceable.
... You believe there's never been a No:1 actress of Bollywood like Sridevi EVER. No one else has had the ability to look this good, act this well, dance this brilliantly and rule the box-office quite like Sridevi. Even her flops matter 'cause the films, not Sridevi, falter.
... You believe Sridevi was robbed of well-deserved awards for Khuda Gawah, Mr India, Nagina, Deva Raagam, Judaai. In essentially flawed films, Sridevi rises above the script to shine. As Kamal Haasan rightly said, "She can deliver the goods... no matter what... Her rise is phenomenal."
... You were as acutely offended as Sri when she wasn't give due recognition/importance at Filmfare awards show in 2011 and she walked out in a huff and purple puff.
...You think Sridevi should have been awarded a Padmashri for her contribution not just to Hindi cinema, but to Indian cinema in general. Sridevi’s cinematic CV spans multiple languages and nearly 300 films – Sridevi’s the hardest working actress of ALL time.
... You could sit through the mostly awful Roop Ki Rani, Choron Ka Raja... and came out of it going, Sri's brilliant no matter what.
... You put up with Malini Iyer despite its lackluster script and shoddy direction (Sri should avoid Satish Kaushik like the plague, their friendship be damned!)
... You think Sridevi’s Nagina/Nigahein was the first Indian superhero film, not Krish. She could stop evil tantric snake charmers by purely dancing (Nagina), stop a bullet with her bare hands (Nigahein!) and what’s more, Punjabi puttar beefcake Sunny Deol needed to be rescued by Sridevi, not the other way around!
... You are very forgiving of Sridevi's weight gain and loss in the 1980s and the horrific wardrobe as 'it was like that only' back then!
…You found Sridevi naughty in the crude era of latak-jhataks, while others were just vulgar. Sridevi’s moony-eyed insouciance and sensuality is downright charming compared to the harsh sexuality on display in music videos these days.
... You get really defensive about Sri's marriage to Boney Kapoor. Look it happened. It’s been 15 years. If Mona Kapoor can let go of it, so can you.
... You look the other way when people mention Sridevi's Rhinoplasty. A nose by any other would still smell...
... You appreciate the fact that Sridevi looks better-than-ever now in her late 40s than she did in her 20s.
...You pray, ardently, fervently pray that Sridevi’s comeback film (English Vinglish) is well-made and released within a year and wish it both commercial and critical success. Award season 2012/13 should all about the dramatic return of the Diva. Sri Diva. I mean Sridevi.
UDDATE
...You found pieces of you died along with Sridevi on Feb 24, 2018 .
I love you, P. And I like how you and I (probably many others) are on the same page, especially acknowledging Sridevi's flaws. I am SUCH a huge fan of hers, yet I am also her biggest critic. I feel you are the same.
ReplyDeleteThis list was great, though a minority of the points were not really the case, but whatevs. However, the last point was DEAD-ON!! InshaAllah her comeback movie will be SUPER AWESOME and both the critics and audiences (non-Sridevi fans) will agree.