Saturday 16 March 2019

Sridevi and Jeetendra in Mawaali (1983): 20 year old Sridevi in pigtails



A nearly 20 year age gap between them, but the two sailed through the 1980s in Bollywood with a steady stream of box-office hits. Bollywood was - for that decade - mostly light-hearted, muscial escapism with Sridevi and Jeetendra. And globally recognised and loved for the fun and frivolity they brought on screen from the Madras madcap film industry as they churned out movies (often 4 to 5 a year!) for the pan-Indian audience.

However, the movies were so much more than that. The messages we get on Facebook from Russia, Japan, Afghanistan, Australia, from a generation of fans who got the zany and inane plots of the easy to translate (its not like the movies had an subtext!) films continue to amaze us. Bollywood is so much more than what's seen on screens in India (or the brown belt as it is).

The films were of variable quality, not a single one favoured by critics but they had more successes than flops, danced around those beaches and pots - and got a stellar career out of it. And lifelong fans.

They did so many films back-to-back together, we can't categorically state which movies which stills are from. They all blur into one frothy bubble!



Above: Prem Chopra with Sridevi on set 




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