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Sadma was released on 8 July 1983 - ie 35 years ago this month. There are innumerable articles written about the film (Google away!) - and thanks to unedited fan fiction and blogging, there are so many misconceptions amd misinformation about the deeply and profoundly loved film. It is difficult to list all the falsehoods that are floating as facts in online discussion forums and social media, so let's clear some stuff up shall we?!
Why yes it was liked by critics and garnered near-universal positive reviews - but it didn't actually go on to win any of its nominations. The movie had Filmfare nominations for Best Actor [Kamal Haasan], Actress [Sridevi] and Story [Balu Mahendra], but it lost out to Naseeruddin Shah for
Masoom, Shabana Azmi for Arth and Best Story went to Ardh Satya. Point to be note, there were only two actresses nominated for Best Actress. Sri was up against the Art House empress Shabana Azmi who was nominated for a record four nominations; Arth,
Avtaar, Mandi and Masoom! Wowsa! The two rarely met in the 1980s but we have a long record of Azmi praising Sri over the years and meeting often during Sridevi's self-imposed sabbatical in films post-children!
Nope, Kamal Haasan was conferred the National Award and Balu Mahendra won for Best Cinematography for the original film Moondram Pirai, but not for Sadma, the re-make.
Did Sridevi win anything? Fear not fellow Sridevi fanatic, the movie made a near clean sweep at the Tamil Nadu State awards as Kamal Haasan Won Best Actor, Sridevi won Best Actress, K. J. Yesudas won Best Male Playback Singer and S. Janaki won Best Female Playback Singer.
Let us clear up a few of the famous myths about Moondram Pirai / Sadma...
- Sadma was critically acclaimed.
Why yes it was liked by critics and garnered near-universal positive reviews - but it didn't actually go on to win any of its nominations. The movie had Filmfare nominations for Best Actor [Kamal Haasan], Actress [Sridevi] and Story [Balu Mahendra], but it lost out to Naseeruddin Shah for
Masoom, Shabana Azmi for Arth and Best Story went to Ardh Satya. Point to be note, there were only two actresses nominated for Best Actress. Sri was up against the Art House empress Shabana Azmi who was nominated for a record four nominations; Arth,
Avtaar, Mandi and Masoom! Wowsa! The two rarely met in the 1980s but we have a long record of Azmi praising Sri over the years and meeting often during Sridevi's self-imposed sabbatical in films post-children! - The National Award was given to Sridevi.
Nope, Kamal Haasan was conferred the National Award and Balu Mahendra won for Best Cinematography for the original film Moondram Pirai, but not for Sadma, the re-make.Did Sridevi win anything? Fear not fellow Sridevi fanatic, the movie made a near clean sweep at the Tamil Nadu State awards as Kamal Haasan Won Best Actor, Sridevi won Best Actress, K. J. Yesudas won Best Male Playback Singer and S. Janaki won Best Female Playback Singer.
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| Sridevi being felicitated by M. G. Ramachandran, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu |
- Sridevi was the obvious choice for the remake of Moondram Pirai in Hindi right? Wrong.
Was Sridevi the only choice for Moondram Pirai's official remake Sadma?! Nope! The offer believe it or not went to glamorous auburn haired Dimple Kapadia first before it landed back on Sridevi. Er... the machinations of Bollywood are beyond our scope. At the time, Sridevi was an unknown actress in the Hindi belt, but Dimple Kapadia was a national fascination after Bobby. Anyhoo, good sense prevailed and Sridevi was brought back upon the insistence of director and mentor Balu Mahendra.
- Sadma is Sridevi's Best Performance.
Well, even Sridevi herself disagreed with this statement. She preferred the original performance in Tamil and has categorically said she found remakes a chore and a bore (she did many, many remakes!).
Scroll back through the archives as Sridevi has spoken about how she hated repeating the same thing again and again... as many of her movies were remade into different languages. The movies weren't just dubbed, they were fully remade often with a different co-star. Eg Gulshan Grover and Leela Mishra were not in Moondram Pirai, Amol Palekar was not in 16 Vayathinile but was in the remake Solva Saawan. The Tamil to Hindi film was shot in its entirety with often change in locations, costumes, co-stars... exhaustively and painstakingly re-created.
There are many actors and actresses who have gone on record to state Sridevi's performance in Sadma (as opposed to say Lamhe, Chaalbaaz, English Vinglish or Mr India) is their all-time favourite. When your repertoire is as as rich as Sridevi's, its hard to pick a fav... Ours is a toss between Lamhe and... English Vinglish!
Considering they didn't have a single scene together in the film, this seems pure gossip fodder from the Tamil tabloids than verifiable news. Sridevi has rarely spoken out against any other actor or actress. Ever. Trust us - we've archived every interview we can get our hands on here. Even when attacked in print Sri mostly kept mum.... Bless her. Silk Smitha and Sridevi also appeared in Adutha Varisu.
See the entire archive of Sadma images, features, comments, reviews here.
There are many actors and actresses who have gone on record to state Sridevi's performance in Sadma (as opposed to say Lamhe, Chaalbaaz, English Vinglish or Mr India) is their all-time favourite. When your repertoire is as as rich as Sridevi's, its hard to pick a fav... Ours is a toss between Lamhe and... English Vinglish!
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| Gulshan Grover and Sridevi in Sadma |
- Southern sirens Silk Smitha and Sridevi did not get along.
Considering they didn't have a single scene together in the film, this seems pure gossip fodder from the Tamil tabloids than verifiable news. Sridevi has rarely spoken out against any other actor or actress. Ever. Trust us - we've archived every interview we can get our hands on here. Even when attacked in print Sri mostly kept mum.... Bless her. Silk Smitha and Sridevi also appeared in Adutha Varisu. See the entire archive of Sadma images, features, comments, reviews here.
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