Celebrating three years of Sridevi's swansong, Mom

On this day on 7 July 2017, Sridevi's swansong hit cinemas all around the world, the taut thriller Mom. 

The film was a box-office success, liked by many film critics, if not all; the simplistic vigilantism espoused by the movie was problematic for some. What was universally acclaimed, the film's leading lady Sridevi, who was conferred her first National Award for Best Actress for the film. Tragically, posthumously. 

An oft repeated tale of an avenging mother (it was the third of its kind that year alone with a similar plot line in Maatr and Ajji), the director and his leading lady brought audiences into the theatre in greater numbers than its predecessors. 

Power of Sridevi, fantastic marketing, music by maestro A.R.Rehman, a fine debut directorial venture by Ravi Udyawar and a stellar cast; each and every actor, supporting actor, be it the villain or kids or husband... every single person who appeared in the film showcased their finely honed talents; Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Akshaye Khanna, Adnan Siddiqui, Abhimanyu Singh and in particular a faultless, surprising Sajal Ali. 

There were early rumours that Alia Bhatt had been approached for the film and online speculation to see if Sridevi's own Janhvi Kapoor would star in the movie; a mother daughter pairing on screen and off? It seemed almost a given. 

Enter Sajal Ali, and her pitch-perfect performance - you can't envision anyone else but her pull through such a transformative arc in the movie. Sajal Ali was just 22-23 when she did the film, but she packed a punch like a veteran actress. In fact, she wasn't completely overshadowed by Chandni herself is a testament to her talents. 

Sridevi being brilliant on screen is... सूरज को दीपक दिखाना...  showing a lamp to the sun? However that adage translates. It's almost a given, and yet, after 265 films, she still manages to surprise cine-going audiences again. And again. 

Many actresses have that one defining film to hallmark their career, Nargis in Mother India, Rekha in Umrao Jaan, Meena Kumari in Pakeeza... Sridevi's finest hours are so many, every fan and self proclaimed critic argues over what her definitive film performance is; is it Chandni, Chaalbaaz, Lamhe, Mr. India, English Vinglish... and lest we forget, her Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam repertoire.   

In the infinite tragedy of her untimely passing, what amazes us still is... she had yet another career defining performance in her. Hell, she had ten. 

Mom is available on Netflix now.

UPDATE: 

sajalaly

Verified

There are some experiences that, no matter how much time goes by, you can never forget. More often then not, people think that an actors life is easy, but not everyone thinks about the things we leave have behind when we commit to a character. We commit a portion of our lives to a project, and in the process put our own lives on pause. That can sometimes be the most difficult thing. For me, MOM was not a film, but a portion of my life I will never forget.
Three years of #MOM ❤️