Excerpt from Showtime magazine, back in 1991!
"....bought a flat and stayed in a building, then my neighbours would say “Woh hamara saath nahi hai”, it wouldn’t be right, would it? Otherwise, everything is just the same. Bhagwandasji looks after my work but it is my mother who is in charge.
“The past year, 1990 has been a bad year for me. I lost my father and I had just one release.” Which fetched her an award, we add, and for the first time in the half-hour that we had spent talking a lovely smile illuminates her face. “Yes”, she says softly, but before she could slip further away into her memories, one wonders if she has any hopes for the year. Her reply is swift.
so long!” She flashes a naughty grin. “As for my other stars, Khuda Gawah, Barj... [unclear], Gurudev, all the problems with them have been solved, and we’ll start shooting soon. Raj Sippy will be directing Gurudev. Farishtey is the film I am really looking forward to. I am satisfied with my performance, stop laughing, I am serious, I mean it!” she said, all the while laughing herself. “After Chaalbaaz, my character in Farishtey is so complete, so full, you wait and see.”
The career threat
“I want all my films to do well. I work hard in them and do my best, the rest is for [cut off]”
“Even now I can do teenage roles.”
Reportedly she was influenced by Boney not to do the film. “You always come up with something or the other!” she burst out, an exasperated look on her face. “Yes I was offered the film, and it was a great opportunity to work with Dilip Kumar, but they wanted to shoot the whole film outdoors, and required immediate dates. Which I couldn’t give, because I was and still am busy completing my films and I couldn’t go outdoors for such a long time. Now someone is doing the film, so it’s better not to comment any more on this subject. All I will say is that [cut off]” quietly without any hungama [Main text] health, but that doesn’t mean I am lonely.
"...Most of the responsibilities have fallen on my mother’s shoulders. Even though she can’t move around much or accompany me to shootings, everything is under her control. Without her green signal, nothing can go ahead. I loved my father so much, as a daughter, a friend. No words can describe my love for him. It was beyond description. “A veil of sorrow falls over her eyes. She is silent for a while, then sighs deeply. “More than me, it’s my mother’s loss. Can you imagine what she is going through? My father used to take care of everything, the electricity bills, other bills, cars, staff, and now it’s my mother’s responsibility. She doesn’t know the first thing about any of it but she has to do it just the same..."
"...I think my shifting out of Centaur must have started these rumours. I have always hated staying in hotels, and I wanted to buy a flat for quite some time but for some reason never got round to it,” she shrugged. “So, since I didn’t like the idea of staying alone in a hotel room without mummy, I shifted into this flat. Yes, it does belong to Boney but he doesn’t live there. I stay there alone. I don’t even have dinner with the family. It’s the ideal arrangement. It’s a totally private flat, no interference from anyone and I have complete privacy...."
"....obligingly signs autographs while people watching her yell, “Sridevi, hey that’s Sridevi!” She calmly raises her hand, waves back and then resumes watching her co-star do his scene. No starry tantrums, no yelling for her staff or loud greetings to those around, nothing. But then that’s Sridevi. She silently accepts her status, but is embarrassed if someone praises her. She’s confident but an introvert. Chameleon-like, she turns into a totally different person once the camera whirrs. Even when she’s surrounded by people, discussing clothes with her designers or talking to her..."
-- Showtime February 1991
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