The Diva Returns: Sridevi: eye magazine cover girl: Power Suit and Sridevi

Indeed. Amazing cover shoot and lovely interview with Sridevi, Sept 15, 2012.

The Diva Returns
Bollywood's first female superstar is set to make a comeback. Sridevi talks about her new film, her career and why she loves saris.

Sridevi, the superstar of the '80s, who could be both the star and the jester, returns to Bollywood after a break of 15 years. She gets candid about the faults of Lamhe, her love affair with saris and being a mother.

Sridevi makes a comeback to the silver screen after 15 years. India's first female superstar reveals why she was called Parrot, how acting comes naturally to her, whether it is in a rain-soaked sari or wearing a fruit hat. Find out how she continues to be the star that shee was - naughty and nice, sultry and dreamy.

Harneet Singh

Nobody filled a chiffon sari on a screen quite like Sridevi. Wet and blue was the dress code for Kaate nahin kat te where she frolics with an invisible man. She went all red for Har kissi ko and yellow for Tere mere honthon pe. she could do a Charlie Chaplin, play an icchadhaari naagin and dance to Hawa Hawai. She could be naughty and nice, sultry and dreamy.

The eighties had its heroines Jaya Prada, Meenakshi Seshadri, Dimple Kapadia, but it was Sridevi who was the star. Initially, however, she was panned for her thunder thighs; her five-star hotel bills, her ignorance of Hindi and her squeaky voice. Her metamorphosis from a raw southern siren to a Yash Chopra heroine was gradual but emphatic. For a decade and more, she held the nation in thrall.

Director Shekhar Kapur who directed her in Mr India says, "A director always looks for an actor who can surprise him. It was very tough to direct her in a dance sequences because she performs as an actress and not as a dancer, so you didn't know whether to focus on her facial expressions or her body movements."

Akshay Kumar has famously said that Sridevi's movies inspired him to join films. "When I was a cook in Bangkok, I used to watch her songs from Tohfa and Himmatwala while washing dishes. I dreamed of working in a movie with her," he says. He eventually acted with her in Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahin, which saw a half-hearted release in 2006. Kajol, known for her spontaneity on screen, feels Sridevi should open an acting school. "She knows everything about her job. It's not only about standing in front of the camera, she knows how to hold her body and how to speak. Most actors don't pay attention to these details," she said in an earlier interview.