Amitabh Bachchan presents Sridevi with her Best Actress Filmfare trophy

 

It's AB Senior's 84th birthday, but this is one of our fav pics of Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi together on stage. 

Sridevi won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her dual role as Anju and Manju in Chaalbaaz at the 35th Filmfare Awards. The ceremony took place in 1990 (honoring the films of 1989). 

She famously received her trophy on stage from Amitabh Bachchan. She was nominated twice in the Best Actress category that year - for both Chaalbaaz and Yash Chopra's Chandni - ultimately winning the trophy for Chaalbaaz. 

There were no sure-fires in the early days of Filmfare - now they are predictable as can be - but that night, the fact that Sridevi attended (a rarity), most of the audience knew it was Sridevi's year all the way. 

The year Lamhe was nominated for multiple awards, Yash Chopra, heart-broken by the press and lukewarm reception at the box-office did not even turn up for the award show, under the illusion that his movie wouldn't do well during the ceremony. Funnily enough Yash Chopra, a huge champion of the industry, attended every Filmfare show from the beginning. And the year his movie was nominated for nearly a dozen awards, he didn't leave his room. The governing board at the time handed out not one but five awards to the movie - much to the pleasure and delight of the surprised winner. It got Yash Chopra out of bed, Dilip Kumar famously went to visit him and ignited the fire yet again to make movies. And Yash Chopra went on to make Darr with Shahrukh Khan - and never looked back. He went on to make ONLY hits and blockbusters from then on, till his last film, the premonition-filled title, Jab Tak Hai Jaan. 

Indeed he worked till the very end. When he announced his retirement on stage on the eve of his swansong's release... the end was indeed nigh.  

Yash Chopra stated that his top three favourites of all-time were Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi  He said every star/actor had a limitation, only these three had infinite talent. Sridevi proved as much, Khan and Bachchan and continue to show till date, there are no limitations and "rest is rust" - so they keep workingo n passion projects, age be damned!