Saturday 27 February 2021

The (nearly) 27 films of Kamal Haasan and Sridevi in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalm and Hindi: The listicle

Kamal Haasan says he did 27 films with Sridevi but only 26 were released. Here's a look; the definitive list of Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films the south Indian superstars appeared in. 

It's difficult to put an exact figure of films Sridevi did as occasionally the films were merely dubbed, sometimes shot entirely again (Moondram Pirai / Sadma or Devatha / Tohfa), or simultaneously shot in Hindi/Tamil or Tamil/Telugu (like Jaani Dost!). 

It's an exacting statistician's nightmare to collate Sridevi's rich repertoire. Films that were made but never released, incomplete films, dubbed films, entirely remade films with the same co-stars, different co-stars... Hence the wide discrepancy in reporting; either Sridevi worked in 266 original, completed, released-in-theatre movies or she did 300 including the dubbed, remade, unreleased ones!  



There's a reason why this is the most seen, liked popular post; to pilfer openly from my favourite film writer Bhardwaj Rangan, "Kamal Haasan called Sridevi an excellent bag of tricks. She had a bottomless bag, apparently, and she could pull out whatever “trick” whichever director wanted. One cannot speak of Sridevi without speaking about Kamal. Like the tagline in the Wills ads, they were Made for Each Other, one bag of tricks constantly up against the other. If he did that Methody, mumbly thing he began to do from around the time he made Kokila (1977), she threw something actorly right back at him. Theirs wasn’t chemistry. It was electricity.

Oh, the songs they made together. Ilankiliye from Shankarlal (1981). Devi Sridevi from Vaazhve Maayam (1982). Look at Radha Radha nee enge from Meendum Kokila (1981). He’s goofing around, a Krishna in a silver jacket and a fedora from which a peacock feather sticks out. She matches him step for step. It isn’t easy matching Kamal Haasan step for step. Vadivelan manasu vechan from Thai Illamal Naanillai (1979). Seen today, perhaps some of these songs come with a “you had to have been there” warning label, but I’m talking about a certain kind of unembarrassed commitment to the goings on, where the actor says, “Okay, so this is what I have to do, and maybe it’s something I personally wouldn’t do, but I’m going to do my darndest to make everyone believe that this really is me.” Acting, in other words.

She went on to become the next in a line of south Indian actresses who became the leading heroine in Hindi cinema. Her most memorable role? I’d still pick Moondram Pirai (1982), and my favourite scene is the one where Kamal gives her a sari and drifts off into a reverie, expecting this amnesiac with the mental faculties of a little girl to have magically transformed into a woman. Ilayaraja sets up the mood with a languorous piano duetting with violins. Sridevi steps out of the room, the sari perfectly draped. She does everything Kamal wants her to. She’s sophisticated. She’s romantic. She’s in control. She’s even motherlike, drawing his head to her bosom, giving him milk from a glass. Then he snaps out of it, and sees that she’s tied the sari all wrong. She’s still the little-girl amnesiac. The scene showcases everything Sridevi was, the child-woman, the aloof and unattainable beauty, the seductress, the idealised (and idolised) star."

For now, here's the comprehensive list (thanks to fans for additional info) of Kamal Haasan and Sridevi films, spanning Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. 


FILM YEARLANGUAGENOTES
Oka Radha Iddaru Krishnulu 1986Telugu
Aakhri Sangram                   1984Hindi Dubbed version of Thaayillamal Naan Illai (1979)
Khabardar                        1984Hindi Incomplete, never released
Sadma                                     1983Hindi A frame by frame remake of Moondram Pirai but with additional Hindi actors replacing Tamil character actors
Andhagaadu                            1982Telugu Shot simultaneously as the Tamil Sankarlal
Moondram Pirai                  1982Tamil The original and easily the finest Tamil film of both Sridevi and Kamal Haasan
Vazhvey Maayam                    1982Tamil 
Aakali Rajyam 1981Telugu 
Meendum Kokila 1981Tamil 
Sankarlal1981Tamil 
Guru 1980Tamil 
Varumaiyin Niram Sivapu 1980Tamil Film was simultaneously shot in Telugu as Aakali Rajyam

Above: Sridevi and Kamal Haasan in the Tamil classic Vazhvey Maayam 



Above: Sridevi and Kamal Haasan in Tamil film Sigapu Rojakkal 


Kalyana Raman1979Tamil 
Neeka Malargal 1979Tamil 
Sigapukal Mookuthi1979Tamil 
Thaillamal Nanillai 1979Tamil 
 
Manitharil Ithanai Nirangala 1978Tamil 
Kuttavum Shikshayum 1978Malayalam
Sigapu Rojakkal 1978Tamil 



Above: Sridevi and Kamal Haasan in the Tamil smash hit 16 Vayanthiniley 


16 Vayanthiniley 1977Tamil 
Nirakudam 1977Malayalam
Aasheervaadam 1977Malayalam
Aadhya Paadam 1977Malayalam
Satyavan Savithri 1977Malayalam
Moondru Mudichu 1976Tamil 




We do love a listicle - here are a few




6 comments:

  1. Satyavan Savithri 1977( Malayalam )
    Nirakudam 1977 ( Malayalam )
    Kuttavum Shikshayum 1978 ( Malayalam )
    Aasheervaadam 1977 ( Malayalam )
    Aadhya Paadam 1977 ( Malayalam )
    Khabardar 1984 ( Hindi )

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have watched Chakkaipodu Podu Raja , no presence of sridevi in this movie !! How come!?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Checking will update and amend accordingly.

      Delete
  3. Super sridevi and kamalhasan good pairs

    ReplyDelete