Saturday, 15 March 2025

Sridevi and Jeetendra: 40 Years of Sarfarosh!


Sridevi, 21, and Jeetendra, 42, on the sets of Sarfarosh: TBT to early 1985. 

A rare flop among a slew of hits, the film is somewhat memorable for many Sridevi fans as it had the catchy Kishore Kumar number, "Sridevi Sridevi Sridevi Tu Nahin..." } performed on screen with no sense of irony by Jeetendra and... Sridevi herself!

The wiggy of it all - Jeetendra's! 

It appears as if Jeetendra styled himself like NTR in Sardar Paparayudu (1980) - the Telugu original version of Sarfarosh. While the original version was a blockbuster, hence remade (Sridevi appeared in both), the quick frame by frame Hindi version did nothing for the coffers of the film producer... er... Jeetendra! Jeetendra was successful, of course, but his fan following was nothing compared to NTR! 

Jeetendra's home productions rode the tide of hits and flops rather jarringly. He lost a lot of money (Deedar-E-Yaar) and then made some (Jyoti Bane Jwala & Pyaasa Sawan), and then lost again (Aag aur Shola). Overall, in the long run, the enduring legacy of the superstar lies in his business acumen - as he famously said on Comedy Nights with Kapil, his only goal in life in movies was to make money - he didn't care for any awards or accolades! Just rewards! He sowed the seeds that has led to the entertainment production behemoth his company has now become - led dutifully by his wife and daughter. Film production in India is serious business; rhino hide skin needed to survive! Just ask producer Boney Kapoor! The slings and arrows of critics are incessant and rewards infrequent. 

Released on 15 March 1985, though Sarfarosh was a surprise flop, the two leading stars Sridevi and Jeetendra barely felt the pinch, as the film preceded two hits, and followed two hits! 

Stars come and go, flops come and go, the enduring legacy lives on. 

RELATED FEATURES

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  • Sridevi and Jeetendra films here.
  • Sarfarosh gallery and featuers here.
  • Sridevi in the 1980s here

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