Nagina (1986): Amrish Puri and Sridevi Face Off

Found online. Would love to know who wrote the feature below.

Editor's Review:

The movie that turned Sridevi to one woman industry, after this movie everybody knew that the lady can hold a film on her own shoulders. It is made in a very classical way. And after this film, Sridevi was sitting pretty at the number one position. 

In a role that might have been played by Anita Guha in the days of Santoshi Maa, Sridevi tore the screen apart with her coquettish charm. The story of an Ichhaddhaari Nagin [snake-woman] who combats her chief tormentor (a slimy snake charmer played by Amrish Puri), it was filmed by veteran Harmesh Malhotra with sledgehammer bluntness. Subtlety wasn't part of Nagina's lexicon. Melodrama and fantasy blended in a heady concoction that audiences specially in the smaller towns and interiors fell for. 

And when Sridevi swayed to the sounds of Lata Mangeshkar's Main teri dushman, even the snake-charmer was charmed. Technically shoddy, the special effects were straight out of the panoramic potboilers of the 1950s and 1960s. 

Filmed at an unbelievably high scale of drama, Nagina nevertheless worked as a pseudo-fable, much in the same way as Jai Santoshi Maa did. 

Besides, when you have Sridevi does anything else matter?

Sridevi in Nagina (1986)

Strength: Sridevi's performance and dances, Music, Storyline

Did You Know? Jaya Prada was the first choice for Nagina? Director Harmesh Malhotra virtually pleaded with her because he felt she was the perfect choice for the role of a traditional Bharatiya nari, a loving wife, because that was the image she used to project then. But Jaya, who is petrified of snakes, refused to even listen to the subject as she did not want to come in such close contact with the creepy, crawling serpents.

Sridevi jumped at the idea and the rest is history. Nagina was one of the first films that catapulted Sridevi to the No:1 slot. And she went from strength to strength after that.

Sridevi in Nagina (1986)

Cast: Sridevi, Rishi Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Prem Chopra, Sushma Seth, Jagdeep
Director: Harmesh Malhotra
Producer: Harmesh Malhotra
Choreographer: Saroj Khan
Music Director: Laxmikant Pyarelal
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Year: 1986