The same age as Sridevi, proficient dancer and actress Meenakshi Seshadri turns 61 today (Nov 16th). As she's heading for a comeback under the archlights after a long spell away from India and industry, a quick look at Sridevi's contemporary, not competition.
As one of the finest dancers in the history of Indian cinema (watch her dances in Teri Payal Mere Geet), she's always been a top star, but never a real threat or contender for Sridevi. Box-office success and blockbusters mostly eluded her. We already know she's a capable actress--Damini deserved more accolades than it eventually got--but will the industry find space for an actor of... a certain age? Her clickbait quote on wanting to do an item song, picked up by innumerable media outlets (including us!) seems... unlikely.
OTT has opened a novel chapter for actresses of a certain vintage, offering either great money, or great roles. Not to have the onus of 'opening weekend' numbers is a plus for any star of any stripe. Back in the day, 30, was the notorious watermark where actresses started getting offered Bhabhi roles - and soon after mother to their once-costars! Look at what happened to Raakhee, Hema Malini and occasionally to Rekha when they played mom to actors their own age - or even older!
What happens to stars who can no longer get prime film roles, but can somewhat pull in crowds? There's politics of course, but as Hugh Grant famously said, "Politics is showbiz for the uglies."
We are all for lofty ambitions, but not every devi... is a Sridevi. The stats are firmly against Meenu, as historically, the industry nor the audience is kind to stars who can no longer bring eyeballs (or 'butts on seats' as the expression goes!). Afterall, there are innumerable incredible Indian actresses live and kickin' but remain dutifully unemployed, either by choice (Rekha? Juhi Chawla) or lack of lucrative opportunity (Hema Malini).
Above: Meenakshi with Sridevi on the sets of the only film they did together; Joshilaay. Sridevi had all the comic moments and lively dance numbers (a la Hema Malini in Sholay) and Meenakshi had the more sombre role (a la Jaya Bhaduri in Sholay!). Oddly, I found the film a lot of fun to watch, despite its predictability and lacklustre performance at the box-office.
We wish the actress the best of luck in her return to screen - it's certainly not what it used to be. But perhaps, that's a good thing.
- We have a massive archive of images of Meenakshi with Sridevi on the sets of films, at events and so on here.
- Sridevi with other actresses here.
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