One from the archives, MOVIE magazine spoke to Anil Kapoor back in March 1994. Anil had a stream of consciousness kind of chat regarding all the leading ladies of the time, from Karishma Kapoor to Juhi, Madhuri Dixit to Sridevi.
Excerpt:
The mission was to make Anil Kapoor talk on something besides himself. I had to be careful in choosing a topic where he didn't take off on the 'I' spree. But he didn't want to speak on the other heroes as he would invoke their 'I're. And just when I was about to retire, he thought it would be a great idea to talk about his heroines.
Anil has acted with all or most of the heroines apart from the little ones storming or swarming the industry today. And here is what Anil (Nostradamus) Kapoor predicts.
SRIDEVI
"Sridevi and I are currently in the same boat. Let's hope two negatives get together and make something positive."
As an actor, as Anil Kapoor, I'm no one to comment on why Sridevi is losing out or not losing out on films. But as a producer, I can say that price has definitely become an issue with Sridevi. While an actress of Sridevi's calibre need not, and should not compromise on her price for businessmen who pose as film-makers, Sridevi should make allowances for genuine producers. There are some film-makers like my brother Boney who spend lavishly on their films (sometimes even to their last penny) and an actor or actress can gain a lot by doing their films. If Sridevi demands her market price from such producers, then I think it's unfair. Tomorrow if Rajshri Products (of Maine Pyar Kiya fame) approach Sridevi, she should compromise on her price. These people do one film at a time and their prestige is even more than the star's. The star is almost guaranteed a good film. Or else she should work like in the west where she does one film at a time. Then she can deservedly demand her price. Like for Laadla, Nitin Manmohan has given her the full price and she's completed the film in six months. That's fair. There must be a lot of good producers who want to work with Sridevi but because of her price they must be shying away. So in that sense, she might lose a lot of good films. Maye it doesn't pinch her., she's done some good films and seen a lot of success. But in the long run, she does need to compromise.
Sridevi's at that stage in her career where she needs to change. I feel the she needs a break form the kind of roles she's done in Mr.India, Chaalbaaz, Chandni etc. which are pure entertainers. Even Lamhe, I don't think was different. She was the same Sridevi doing the same things. Even if in these entertainers, she should space them out so that when she does them again, the audience will lap it up. In Laadla, she's playing a very different role and I think she'll be accepted in a big way. She's extra-ordinary. She's playing almost a negative character, a vampish role that of a bitch. She's got hardly two songs, most of the songs are sung by me. When I see her in the film, I like her so much because I'm seeing her like this for the first time.
Yes, we're still working together because if she's had flops with me, then even I've had flops with her so we're in the same boat (laughs a lot). So let's hope two negatives get together and make something positive.
There has never been any friction between us. The press imagined that I was unhappy after Sridevi got a lot of applause for Mr.India. They wanted me to be unhappy, so they were upset when I wasn't (laughs uncontrollably). Till today, I'm remembered for Mr.India, children still refer to me as Mr. India. I think I got a lot from that film.
Nor was Sridevi upset that I was backing Madhuri also. I have worked with both of them quite a lot and I didn't witness any change in Sridevi even after Madhuri's sudden climb. With me she always was very communicative and we got along very well, but now I see that she's started getting along with everyone. She's more comfortable and I think one of the main reasons is the house she's bought in Bombay. That's made her more secure. Previously she used to stay in a hotel or at my house and feel very much an outsider. I don't think that feeling is there any more.
Far from being sad at the state of affairs, I think she was a lot more insecure when she was at her peak according to the media. Now I find her much more humorous, much more funnier. I really couldn't say what has brought about this change. It's a kind of personal rea I wouldn't like to get into.
One thing I must say about Sridevi is that she has never tried to manoeuvre or tried to do any P.R. Whatever position she's reached is totally on the basis of her talent. I remember at the time of Karma, Boney had to go down south to tell Sridevi who Subash Ghai was. She was totally unaware. So many times I have to tell her that, "Listen this guy is a good film-maker you must do his film." Her talent is so tremendous that if she had done a film with Mani Ratnam or someone like Raj Kapoor or any of the young, good, committed directors like Raj Kumar Santoshi, Vinod Chopra etc, she'd have torn the screen apart. She's working with anyone and anybody and the result she's getting... is for all to see. She had become so unapproachable.... for a long time she didn't even have a secretary.
Professionally, I think she's just going through a bad patch where luck is not favouring her. If Lamhe would have clicked in a big way, it would have been a different scene altogether. But still, she's been No.1 for about twenty years now and she's still the highest paid actress. She's had great innings."
Interview conducted by Anupama Sekhri for MOVIE magazine.
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