From 1988 onwards, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit had to share real estate on magazine covers and face each other in print daily! By that I mean, they were both each other's reference points, their portraits were next to the other in innumerable publications, editorials, and the fan warfare was epic. The perceived rivalry was greater than reality. One was asked about the other from the day Dixit delivered her first hit, till the passing of Sridevi. And even after.
When you see Madhuri Dixit now-Nene, crestfallen days after Sridevi's passing, that was no act. She lost the link to a star she had been tethered to from the moment her career really took off. 2018 on, she remains anchorless and without contemporary or peer. No longer a barometer to judge her success and failure exists, her achievement and goalpost had disappeared to the ether when Sridevi passed so tragically and so suddenly.
I've scanned every interview of the two when they mentioned the other and they always remained polite, respectful and when it seemed slightly salty, rest assured they were aspersions made by the writers and editors. Note how headlines were manipulated for clickbait/sales more than offense actually taken.
Having met both, it's slightly easier to be in awe of Sridevi as she was so statuesque, tall and imposing. Madhuri Dixit is surprisingly tiny in person, you feel more protective of her than intimidated. Today the box-office race seems so unnecessary and immature - we aren't going to remember which film did what business, we'll remember which film was a great entertainer and which wasn't.
Sridevi passed at age 54, immortalised in time and frozen in that age in perpetuity, she dazzled with box-office success and a posthumous National Award. Till that asteroid hits, her legacy is established for the ages.
As Madhuri Dixit Nene turns 57 and finds new frontiers on OTT shows and reality TV, lets see what her legacy will be - what she would like it to be.
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