Bollywood director Subash Ghai with Indian actress Sridevi

Indian film producer, writer and director Subash Ghai turns 76 today, the prolific director was born on 24 January 1945! 

Bollywood director Subash Ghai with Indian actress Sridevi over the years on the left (montage by Sridevi.Ru).  

They only worked together in the Hindi film Karma  - Ghai's loyalties lies with you-know-who - and from what we gather from film magazines in the 1980s, it wasn't a great experience for either of them. Ghai wasn't able to connect with Sridevi and Sridevi was wasted in a multi-star cast role where she had little to do... They never worked together after that ever again - despite the fact the film was the biggest hit of the year. 

After a lot of water flowed past arcs and bridges, in 2013, 27 years after making a film together, Sridevi went to Whistling Woods, a film academy run by Subash Ghai and family, to give a talk and meet the students. At the audience Q&A session, Ghai made it a point to state it was his favourite performance of the year and asked Sridevi, "How did you give such a beautiful and perfect performance?"

Sridevi with a smile said, "It was because of directors like you that I learned acting in Hindi cinema." 

White flags all around. 

Although he hired Madhuri Dixit more often - first in Uttar Dakshin (1987), Ram Lakhan (1989), Khal Nayak (1993) - Ghai was never shy of praising Sridevi in print. During her lifetime and after...