TOI: Khalid Mohamed, "Sridevi is unarguably the Best No:1 Actress we've EVER known"

TBT to August 1990, Times of India Film critic (and former Filmfare editor), Khalid Mohamed, "She still has that baby face. Although her love affair with the camera is two decades old-she acted as a boy when she was four-Sridevi has preserved her Alice-in-Wonderland vulnerability. She can be a wide-eyed ingenue, she can be a woman of sobriety. A Hawa Hawaii, a hausfrau. An all-rounder, she is unarguably the Best No.1 actress we've ever known. Hema Malini and Rekha, just didn't have the same snap and crackle, the same electricity, Mumtaz was pretty, perky, yes, but Sridevi's zoomed leagues ahead. 

It would appear that Sridevi's performances are effortless. In fact, she even encourages that impression by refusing to discuss (analyse is too cerebral a word) her artistry, her craftsmanship, her genius. "I just did it," is all she'll tell us about her amazing performances. And she's been the saving grace of so many potboilers in which she's been paired with everyone from wooden blocks to chimps. 

Sridevi can dance, act, she has charisma, oomph, energy. No actress can combine all these elements. Not surprisingly, she doesn't have a competitor of equal merit. Put them on the screen with her and they'll look like her hand-maidens. 

Times of India, Film Critic 

Oscar nominee Shekhar Kapur, "I never miss a Sridevi film. I'm very impressed"

Actor, director Shekhar Kapur spoke to Filmfare (August 1990) about the phenomenon that was Sridevi. In his own words;

"I never miss a Sridevi film. I've seen most of her Tamil and Telugu films. I was very impressed by her performance in Moondram Pirai. She was brilliant. 

It was during Joshilaay that I got to know her.. .and discovered the incredible performer in her. I was absolutely fascinated. 

In fact, the song, I love you was not in the original script of Mr India. It was added later. One day Boney (Kapoor) came and told me that he had seen Jaanbaaz and was stunned by the sensuality Sridevi exuded in a song sequence. "She can't look more sensual," he said. I went and saw the film and accepted the challenge to present her more sensually. The result was I love you. She looked so sensual, fully clothed. 

Even the Charlie Chaplin bit was an afterthought. The scene required Sri to disguise herself as  a man. Why not as Charlie Chaplin? I thought. She was so good in the scene that I went on extending it, adding one gag after another. 

Mr.India was a kind of film and she played a king of role in it. In Chandni, she went a step beyond, projected another aspect of her. She now needs to play an exceptional character. maybe a tragedy. I think someone should make a Mughal-e-Azam with her. I regret not having made a film with her immediately after Mr India.  I got caught in an absurd project, which finally didn't take off. I'd like to make an intense love story with Sridevi and Amitabh.

 

Below: Sridevi on the sets of Mr.India in her Charlie Chaplin avatar

Sridevi on the sets of Lamhe (1991): Filmfare cover shoot: August 1990: Sridevi: Greatest!

Sridevi on the sets of Lamhe (released in 1991). August 1990 cover story of Filmfare was about how Sridevi was indeed "The Greatest". No:1s down the line: Suraiya to Sridevi.

The Sri Phenomenon

Her position at the box-office is unrivalled. "No actress in the last two decades haas brought so much verve and vitality to the screen," say her directors. A look into the Sridevi phenomenon. 

-- Filmfare, August 1990