Sridevi attends Madhuri Dixit's party: Paps went berserk!

Rikku Rakeshnath, Sridevi, Boney Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and Madhuri's sister... 

Madhuri Dixit hosted a massive party back in May 1998 when almost the entire film industry turned up for the then-reigning queen. Sridevi appeared in a shimmering pink satin sari and the paparazzi genuinely went berserk trying to capture the two together. It had been more than a year since Sridevi went into self-imposed hiatus as she married Boney Kapoor and had baby Janhvi. Seeing Sridevi out and about was a rarity. 

Madhuri had just turned 31, the Mumbai media had, predictably, started writing about her diminishing career--just as they had done for Sridevi before her, and Rekha before Sri, and Hema before Rekha... Something about the age 30 mark seemed to trigger critics into writing the career obituary of leading ladies. Like clockwork... 

Heaven forbid an actress have a career after they hit that third milestone which somehow turned into gravestone according to tabloids. 

Thankfully times have changed... a little. Well, the goal post has moved a bit further but, critics writing off actresses continues as aging actors continue to act with perennially younger heroines. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same.