Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi's Cine Blitz centrefold: TBT to June 1986!

Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi on the sets of Aakhree Raasta back in the summer of 1986. A Cine Blitz centrefold!

Sridevi didn't love her role or this film (tbh neither did we!), but she did it for the producers who had long-supported her. Sridevi didn't sign a film with Bachchan until 1990 when Khuda Gawah was launched and she had equal (some might even say longer/meatier + double role!) footage and screen time as Big B! In show-biz, she understood both 'show' and 'biz'--Sridevi signed her biggest contract with this movie. 

 

39 Years of Aakhree Raasta: Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi's Bollywood Blockbuster!

Released on 6 June 1986, Aakhree Raasta was shot in record time and a hit for both Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi - despite Sridevi's ambivalent opinion about her role in the film. Before the fans come for us - she did praise Big B for being an impeccable co-star who she referred to as 'the greatest' during the 1990s.

Hey, but a hit, is a hit, is a hit. The success of the film in 1986 further bolstered her supreme position as the Number One female star of India! 

 

 
 

Rare still: Sridevi with Amitabh Bachchan in Aakhree Raasta (1986)

Rare still: Sridevi with Amitabh Bachchan in Aakhree Raasta (1986)

Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan in Aakhree Raasta (1986)

 

Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan in Aakhree Raasta (1986)

Released 37 years ago today, Sridevi, 23, in one of the few films she's done with Big B, who was 44 when the film was made. 

80s superstars: Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi on the sets of Aakhree Raasta (1986)

80s superstars: Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi on the sets of Aakhree Raasta (1986) 

Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi on set: Aakhree Raasta (1986)

 Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi on set: Aakhree Raasta (1986)

Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi in Aakhree Raasta (1986)

Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi in Aakhree Raasta (1986)

Here's an unsurprising bit of trivia, all the films these two super-duper stars appeared in where hits and/or blockbusters at the box-office. From Inquilaab to Khuda Gawah, Aakhree Raasta to English Vinglish. 

Legend has it that the two legends were all set to appear in yet another film - produced and directed by R Balki (of Cheeni Kum and Paa fame) but fate chose otherwise. 

Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi in Aakhree Raasta (1986): The Last Emperor and Empress of Bollywood!

The biggest hit of the year in Bollywood, the Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, Jaya Prada and Anupam Kher film Aakhree Raasta was a smash - and released on this day, 35 years ago, on 6 June 1986. 

The film was a casting coup, a movie with a message and studded with chart-busting songs.   

 

1986 came at a time as Amitabh Bachchan was winding down his film career and leaning towards politics. Sridevi's sun was ascending - already declared the number one star of Bollywood in 1984, in 1986, Sridevi dominated the box-office; of the five highest grossing films of the year, Sridevi appeared in four;

1.	Karma	Dilip Kumar, Nutan, Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Poonam Dhillon, Shakti Kapoor, Dara Singh, Anupam Kher
2.	Nagina	Sridevi, Rishi Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Amrish Puri
3.	Aakhree Raasta	Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Prada, Sridevi, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Anupam Kher
4.	Swarag Se Sunder	Jeetendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Jaya Prada, Padmini Kolhapure, Prem Chopra, Kader Khan
5.	Janbaaz	Feroz Khan, Anil Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Sridevi, Rekha, Amrish Puri

Star & Style: Rekha dubs for Sridevi

Star & Style: Rekha dubs for Sridevi!

So the title reads. As Sridevi wasn't proficient in Hindi, she often had other voice recording artists (such as Naaz) dub for her. For the film Aakhri Raasta in 1986, Rekha did the deed.

At the time, Rekha was a huge star in her own right - and for Re' to dub for Sri was a headline-worthy moment as both were contemporaries. Both remained good friends... till the very end.

UPDATE: Sridevi on the cover of the Hindi tabloid Film City.

Rekha Dubs for Sridevi

Never before in the history of cinema has it transpired that one top star has dubbed for another until Rekha lent her voice to Sridevi. This well kept secret was out in the open for everyone to know the minute Sridevi mouthed her lines in the film...

There is a big board with a "NO ENTRY" sign prominently displayed. Completely ignoring its existence, Sridevi whizzes past the sign board riding her Honda. A policeman emerges from somewhere, blows his whistle and commands her to stop. He pulls out his notebook to write down her name. "My name is Vinita, I am the daughter of the D.I.G. of Police," says Sridevi. The film is Aakhree Raasta, Sridevi's latest release opposite Amitabh Bachchan.

There is nothing extraordinary about the above mentioned scene, but what is intriguing is Sridevi's voice. The minute she opened her mouth to utter the dialogue, we sat up alert, not only because she speaks her lines, in flawless Hindi minus the... 

Sridevi: Box Office Queen: 1986

Sridevi in Karma

Sridevi in Nagina

Sridevi was ruling the box-office from 1983 on wards but she was in a league of her own by 1986. Karma was released on August 8, 1986  and Nagina came out by 28 November 1986. There was just no looking back after that. Looking at the Top Ten grossing Hindi films of 1986, Sridevi featured in all top four blockbusters of '86. Not sure if anyone - male or female - has ever repeated that level of success in a single year.

1. Karma
2. Nagina
3. Aakhree Raasta
4. Jaanbaaz 

Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi in Aakhri Raasta 

Feroz Khan and Sridevi in Jaanbaaz

Sridevi with Amitabh Bachchan in Aakhree Raasta (1986)

The King and Queen of Bollywood together. Released in the summer of 1986 (June 6th to be precise), Aakhree Raasta was one of the few movies the superstars did together as Sridevi stated on record that most leading ladies didn't have much to do in a Bachchan film hence she'd rather refrain from working in his movies. This wasn't a dis', just a matter-of-fact statement by the top actress of her time. 

Do note, Sridevi stated on record that of all her co-stars (and she really did work with EVERYONE!), Amitabh Bachchan was "the greatest". 

Sridevi with Amitabh Bachchan in Aakhree Raasta (1986)

Stills from one of the few films Sridevi did with Amitabh Bachchan - Aakhree Raasta (1986).

Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi in 1986 (L) and then years later in 2012 on his TV show! 

Amitabh Bachchan with Sridevi and Jaya Prada in Aakhree Rasta (1986)

Though they were both No:1 superstars throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Sridevi did just three* films with the legend Amitabh Bachchan; Inquilab (1984), Aakhree Raasta (1986) and finally, the best of the lot, Khuda Gawah (1992). 

What's most notable about this film is, as Sridevi was still new to Hindi films, she didn't speak the language clearly so 'the' Rekha dubbed for her friend in this film. For fans of Bollywood - it's as clear as can be, Rekha's iconic husky voice is so obvious. 

Released in the summer of 1986 (6 June 1986 to be exact), the film was a major hit. It was yet another film where Bachchan had a double role - and his co-stars were the southern belles Sridevi and Jaya Prada. 

Point to note, in media, both actresses - though they liked Big B and enjoyed the box-office success of the film, hinted that they did not particularly enjoy working in the movie. Sridevi's role was all too brief and not particularly challenging or memorable for her. And Jaya Prada had to act as Amitabh's mother in the movie - even though she was 20 years younger than him!

But, nothing succeeds like success; it was a box-office smash and the third biggest hit of 1986. In fact, Sridevi reigned supreme as of the Top Five blockbusters of the year, Sridevi appeared in four of them; Karma, Nagina, Aakhree Raasta and Jaanbaaz! An unbeatable streak that no other actress of Indian cinema has duplicated or replicated!

 

Update: Correction, the best of the lot, English Vinglish! (2012)

UPDATE: And in 2012, Amitabh Bachchan did a guest appearance in Sridevi's fabulous English Vinglish. We live in perpetual hope that the two legends of Indian cinema will reunite again on screen.

UPDATE: 

Amitabh Bachchan posts on Facebook:

FB 989 - 29 YEARS of my film 'AAKHRI RAASTA' .. what times and what story concept by Bhagyaraja .. how time has flown by ..

Amitabh Bachchan posts, "The first one with the talented Sridevi during the time of Aakhri Raasta

Above: Gorgeous Sridevi. 

Click to enlarge image

Left: A double page spread of Sridevi with Amitabh Bachchan published in MOVIE magazine back in June 1986. 

Photoplay.... The Superstar Way.