Defiant Sridevi in Army: The 1996 Bollywood hit that Media refused to call a Blockbuster!

Released on 28 June 1996, Sridevi had a smash hit with Army, but the media didn't declare it a hit for a long, long time. 

Her performance, as always, was good, but the film, Sholay redux with a gender swap, isn't without its flaws. The music was rather tepid, and the plot predictable, but a hit, is a hit, is a hit.

Army was one of the earlier corporate films made in the Hindi film industry, ie a carefully calculated  enterprise where the movie was shot within budget, meticulously organised (huge cast) and completed quickly--unheard of those days.  The movie was made with a modest budget of ₹ 4 crore, and made over ₹ 17.3 crore at the box-office. A success in every measure, making x 4 of production cost, Shahrukh Khan got the credit for bringing in the masses, but it was Sridevi's performance that held the movie together. 

Context is key here; Shahrukh's DDLJ had released 8 months before and was the blockbuster of the decade. While the audience was craving for something with Khan, he had an extended cameo in the Sridevi-led film Army, as he wanted to work "with the living legend" Sridevi. She had rejected Darr earlier with him. For reasons best known to Sridevi, she comically said in an interview that she would have done Darr if she was offered Shahrukh's role (ie lead antagonist--a novel idea for a leading lady who had done all conceivable roles by then!). However, we take that quote with a pinch of salt. Tone/expression - did she mean it or was it said in jest? 

Do note, Sridevi had just turned 33 when the film released (she was 32 when she shot the movie - ie the same age as Alia Bhatt is now!). Here's the how-far-we've-come-but-have-we-really moment; the media was tagging her as the aging superstar who couldn't deliver the hits she did when she was 23! They were telling her "to go back to Madras!" Well, this was of course coming off the horrific earlier releases, mega flops Chandra Mukhi and Chaand Kaa Tukdaa, so critics were gung-ho about taking aim at the star, completely ignoring her towering act and success of Laadla in 1994. For the first time in her prolific career, Sridevi had NO releases in the year 1995. Sridevi was recovering from several personal tragedies--her father's loss, her mother's cancer, her mother's botched infamous surgery in New York--and while the Queen was away from studios and set, other stars made giant strides. 

Army was a mini-comeback of sorts, her previous release was August 1994, and Army released in June 1996. When the film was reluctantly declared a hit, Sridevi remained zen and said to the press a flop or a hit was beyond her, and it was a producer's headache! As long as she worked hard, and on time, the fate of a movie didn't swing her sails. Having spent her entire life in the film industry, this is easy to believe; Sridevi knew that there's an ebb and flow to a career, and she just had to ride the waves. Army was a hit but then Mr. Bechara flopped, Judaai was a hit, then Kaun Sachcha Kaun Jhootha flopped. The only certainty in Bollywood has always been the adage; nothing is certain.