Sridevi in and as Sherni

Dominating the poster of Sherni, yet another title role for Sridevi. It didn't do wonders at the box-office and was written off by the critics back in the summer of 1988, but long before the discussion of female empowerment, pay disparity and women seen as second fiddle and decorative foils to the hero, here's Sridevi defying Bollywood norms. She had the title role, was the highest paid star on set, she always had parallel if not more screen-time than men and she rarely played the victim on and off screen. Sherni is an example of many movies where she didn't wait for the leading man to rescue her, she pulled herself up by the bootstraps.

There are dozens of examples of such, what comes to mind; Sultanat, Garajna, Chaalbaaz, Mom, Army and so on.

Sridevi in and as Sherni (1988): Title role for a Bollywood Queen!

The only film Sridevi did with Shatrughan Singha, Sherni.

Directed by Harmesh Malhotra (of Nagina fame), this wasn't much of a movie. The low-budget and faulty direction, writing, editing, choreography mediocre music... is all too apparent.

Here is a fine example how Sridevi was often better than the movie she was in. A polished diamond set on a shoe-string.

Based loosely on the crime spree of Phoolan Devi (Shekhar Kapoor went on to make the faultless, fearless Bandit Queen a decade later), the movie isn't great by any measure. Srdevi's efforts are valiant however... hmm. No further comment.

BTW one look at the posters and clearly you know who was the biggest star at the time of the film's release. It's a classic case of A-list stars working with a B-list budget. The way it was shot is particularly abysmal...

Sridevi: One Woman Industry

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The movie has its own share of fans - including Sonakshi Singha, a self-professed Sridevi fan.

Legend has it, the film's producer Pawan Kumar waited for Sridevi's approval for the film for a long time. Sridevi's mother Rajeshwari (one of the original momagers) was not sure how Sridevi would do in the horse riding scenes, but Sridevi was a fine equestrian and had no problems. Sridevi finally gave the go ahead when Pawan Kumar agreed to pay Sridevi her full market price.

The Sherni billboards that were spread across the nation in the 1980s

Above: Publicity stills of Sridevi with Shatrughan Singha on the sets of Sherni (1988) published in the magazines of the time. 

Above: Sridevi with her stunt-double Reshma Pathan in the film Sherni.