Top 5 Quotes on Acting by India's greatest, the late, great Sridevi

From the archive, Sridevi notes on acting in Indian Films.

1. "I'm better with my first takes. There are a lot of actors who improve with extra takes, but for me, I feel the intensity diminishes. There was a scene in Roop Ki Rani... which I did with great feeling but nobody else seemed to think so. In contrast, the flag scene in Khuda Gawah where I weep thinking of the hero was shot amidst a lot of tension. I felt I was very awkward in the scene and didn't do it as well as I wanted to, but in the final cut, the scene is very effective."
2. "Most of the time the characters are from the director's imagination. So I do what is in the script. Sometimes, however, the character, develops without me being aware of it. In one of my Telugu films, for example, i play an office girl forever nagged by her boss. The minute he'd start yelling at me, I'd start muttering to myself in frustration. This happened so naturally, that the director was bowled over. 'How did you think of it?' he asked me when the final print was out."
3. "....I was very young, I didn't know how to project love scenes. One director told me to look sad. For a very long time after that, every time I had to do a romantic scene, I borrowed the expression. Only much later, when I was old enough to gather from my own experiences, I did the scenes differently."
4. "I feel I don't give adequate attention to my looks. I truly believe how I look is the cinematographer's problem. it is his job to make me look presentable. Costumes, accessories, do matter. Very often when watching a film, I feel I should have worn a dull saree to emphasize the unhappy scene, or have combed my hair neatly when they were shooting a close-up. But these imperfections continue. Maybe that's what shooting is all about...."
5. "I've enjoyed working with him [Mahesh Bhatt in Gumraah] tremendously. I was so scared of doing this film. People had told me all sorts of stories about the man, his life-style, but he is quite simple and uncomplicated. The way he inspires his artists before a scene, the way he explains a situation, it's a pleasure. He does not bind you with instructions. Instead, he helps you draw from your own experience and then leaves you to bring it out in a manner you are comfortable with. The technique is quite extraordinary and something every true artiste appreciates thoroughly.