Nagina: The cast and crew celebrate Rishi Kapoor's birthday

A major throwback, Rishi Kapoor celebrating his 34th birthday on the sets of the film Nagina! The film's producer and director feeds him a slice of cake  note the snake shaped cake!! Sridevi and Sushma Seth look on. 

 

Above: A pic from the set of Nagina, legendary character actor and famed movie villain Amrish Puri, the film's director Harmesh Malhotra with Sridevi and Rishi Kapoor looking on. The fake ai manipulated colour pic on the right is trending. In fact the net is now flooded with fake ai corrupted images and somehow - our site is being milked for info and imagery.... 

The Ghayal Party! Throwback to 1990 when Sridevi made a rare appearance for the Deols

June 1990; Dharmendra's home production of Ghayal releases - and the film fraternity en masse turns up to support the beloved actor and his son's (what turned out to be brilliant and popular) film. 

The film fraternity attendance was incredible - especially the leading ladies who turned up, dolled up to the hilt; from Rekha, Sridevi, Madhavi, Sonam, Madhuri Dixit, Dimple Kapadia, Amrita Singh and, of course, the film's leading lady Meenakshi Seshadiri. 

Sunny Deol's contemporaries, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Chunky Pandey attended, as did directors and producers like Shekhar Kapur, Pahalaj Nihalani, actors Amrish Puri, Karan Razdan with his wife Priya (the famed "Rajini" of television), among so many others! 

• More images in the archive here.
• Sridevi with Dharmendra over the years here.
• Sridevi with Sunny Deol over the years here.
• Six films of Dharmendra with Sridevi. 
• Six films of Sunny Deol with Sridevi 

Amrish Puri with Sridevi in Nagina

A great heroine, needs a great villain--and Amrish Puri was superb in Nagina. That voice, the costume, the glare... In fact, the two worked in nearly a dozen films over the span of five years! 

Born on June 22, 1932, Amrish Puri has worked with Sridevi in several iconic films; almost all were major successes be it in Hindi or Telugu. 

Amrish Puri with Sridevi films

Film Name	Release Date	Hit or Flop
Sultanat	1986	Hit
Nagina	1986	Hit
Mr. India	1987	Hit
Jawab Hum Denge	1987	Flop
Aakhari Poratum (Telugu)	1988	Hit
Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (Telugu)	1990	Super Hit
Naaka Bandi	1990	Average
Garajna	1991	N/A Unreleased

Rare photograph: Sridevi on the sets of Nagina with Amrish Puri

Rare photograph: Sridevi on the sets of Nagina with Amrish Puri! 

You can tell its not on scene as of course the two famously glowered at each other throughout Nagina as naagin vs sapera! 

How many films did Amrish Puri and Sridevi work together in? We listed all eight in the archive here. 

Rare stills from Nagina: Sridevi with Amrish Puri, Rishi Kapoor and Harmesh Malhotra

Rare stills from Nagina: Sridevi with Amrish Puri, Rishi Kapoor and producer/director Harmesh Malhotra 

A fantastic thriller that holds up - purely based on the acting prowess and conviction of the A-list star/actors. 

Sridevi absolutely stuns in this modern day Indian fable... 

Birth anniversary of Amrish Puri: Sridevi's famed nemesis on screen:

Be it Nagina, Mr.India or the Telugu smash Aakhari Poratam (pics below)... Sridevi and Amrish Puri battled it out on screen for years. They appeared in nine films together over a span of nearly two decades = the definitive listicle in earlier post here.

Off screen, it was a distant (Sridevi wasn't close to that many people) but respectful and professional relationship between the fine actors. 

Born on, 22 June 1932, today is Amrish Puri's birth anniversary - we pay our respects to the great actor.

TBT: On the sets of Heer Ranjha: Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Sunil Dutt and Amrish Puri

 

TBT: On the sets of Heer Ranjha: Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Sunil Dutt and Amrish Puri 

8 Films of Amrish Puri and Sridevi: The listicle!

 

Sridevi and Amrish Puri worked in eight films, in two languages, together, but most memorably in Nagina and Mr.India. 

Amrish Puri has been trending online all day - today June 22 - is his birth anniversary. Puri would have turned 89 this year. 

Sridevi and Amrish Puri worked together in;

1. Sultanat (1986) 
2. Nagina (1986)
3. Mr. India (1987)
4. Jawab Hum Denge (1987) 
5. Aakhari Poratum (1988) * in Telugu / Dubbed into Hindi as Mera Farz
6. Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (1990) / Dubbed into Hindi as Aadmi aur Apsara
7. Naaka Bandi (1990)
8. Garajna (1991) * Unreleased

Amrish Puri with Sridevi in Nagina

Amrish Puri with Sridevi in Nagina (1986).

During the making of the film, Sridevi was just 23 years old, Puri was 54. When Sridevi embarked her Bollywood journey, she mentioned that she was always intimidated by screen legends and remained shy but observant of how the actors worked in the Hindi film industry - an alien discipline to the one she was used to in the South. The shy actress had this major confrontational scene in the grand finale of Nagina with the veteran of stage and film. Her inner competitive streak of being the best no matter what she did - "like a good student"- came out. The wallflower turned into siren on screen and amazed all her co-stars.

Sift through any interview of any character and supporting actors and they all mention what a capable artist Sridevi was when they worked with her in her incredibly prolific career. Even though she did dozens of fluffy, song-and-dance routines and roles that required little of her - she did whatever she had to do with the best of her ability; and my God did she deliver! Nagina on paper doesn't work, a woman who turns into a snake at will to fight evil is ludicrous at best but the stellar performances elevate the movie into magical realism. Could lesser actors have made the film as convincing? There have been several attempts at reworking the genre - just about all have failed. 

TBT: Sridevi, Chiranjeevi and Amirsh Puri together: On set: BTS: Behind the scenes

TBT: Sridevi, Chiranjeevi and Amrish Puri together on the sets of Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (1990)!

Sridevi and Jeetendra at the launch of Naaka Bandi

Thanks to the vast Sridevi fan diaspora, finally we have answers. We were trying to figure out which film this was from (hard to do as Sridevi did 16 films with Jeetendra!). Finally someone sent a note - its not from a movie the two starred in, but Jeetendra attended the mahurat (launch) of Naaka Bandi to support his frequent co-star Sridevi and the team making the film. See blow pic.

Not to mention Boney Kapoor (who also had nothing to do with the film - other than a shared interest for the leading lady!) was there to do the clap/first take of the movie.

In below pic the cast and crew of Naaka Bandi including Amrish Puri, Sridevi, Chunky Pandey and Sonam. With Boney Kapoor in the far left holding the clap-board for the movie. The film was launched in 1988 and released in 1990.

Rare Pics: Amrish Puri and Sridevi in Garajna (1991):

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Amrish Puri and Sridevi on the sets of Garajna (1991). The film was supposed to release back in March 1991 but was stuck due to production issues. Rumours are the completed film is in a vault somewhere. 

Rare photos of Sridevi dancing in the villain's - ie Amrish Puri's - den from the finale of the film. 

Deja vu for many fans I'm sure. 

There are certain tropes that Sridevi endlessly repeated as producers demanded her to do the same thing again and again. Be it repeating films she essayed in the south, box-office hits or song routines. Due to her seemingly infinite capabilities, Sri tried to bring her own twist to each routine.

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Below: Caught on camera! Boney Kapoor pops in to visit Sridevi on the sets of the film Garajna. Boney had nothing to do with or vested interests in the film other than... well... 

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Stars Galore: Anil Kapoor, Chiranjeevi, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor, Sangeeta Bijalani

Whoa this line-up! in Above pic, L to R: Rajnikanth, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, ? Chiranjeevi, Sangeeta Bijlani, Madhuri Dixit, Amrish Puri and Anupam Kher!

At the launch of Chiranjeevi's first Hindi film Anaam, where Sridevi gave the first shot/clap. 

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