It's Sreedevi not Sridevi!

Sridevi... well, Sreedevi's autograph, cherished and framed now. Meeting her in 2012... seems like a dream now.

Not going down the warpath on Sridevi's name yet again - its origin story lies here.     

 

Sridevi in a blue sari: A Sreedevi

Sridevi in blue. 

Note her autograph; Sridevi spelt her name A. Sreedevi aka Ayappan Sreedevi. 

We have the name of this fan site... sorta incorrect.... Yeah. we are aware!  

Sridevi and her yellow saris: Actress on set

The sari, jewellery, flowers are all the same... Except the bindi. Not sure if this is a continuity hiccup or an internet error as a fan amended the bindi... or not!

Kindly note Sridevi's autograph; Sridevi spelt her name "A Sreedevi" not Sridevi! 

As all hardcore fans know! 

Archive of over 97 posts of Sridevi wearing yellow saris on film here.

A beaming Sridevi signs autographs

 

A beaming Sridevi signs autographs 

Sridevi gossip from the 1980s!

Random tidbit about Sridevi from the early days. 

 

Sridevi signing autographs

During her hiatus, used to crave sightings of Sridevi. These fan encounter snaps... Sridevi was soooo beautiful.

Fan encounter: Sridevi poses with fans over the years

Fan encounter: Sridevi poses with fans over the years  

Fanboy and Sridevi: Fanning out at India's biggest female superstar

Thanks to fan Probir, we have these behind-the-scenes images of Sridevi from 2012.

"This [images below] was during the Zoom TV interview shoot for English Vinglish with Madhureeta Mukherjee. She's a very good friend of mine, and knowing my madness for Sridevi, she called me for the shoot. This iconic poster was a gift from my wife Sriparna. And it was her idea to make me carry the poster. 

I just kept standing awestruck through the shoot, looking at Sridevi and hearing her. After the shoot, Madhureeta asked her to wait for a die-hard fan and I stepped in. We unrolled the Chandni poster and the smile on Sridevi's face was the same indescribable one that the world fell for so many times. As she was writing on the poster, she looked up at me asking me to spell my name. I knelt down and told her... And then continued rambling about my thoughts and feelings for her... She smiled through it all. And then I told her that she has to be in Mr. India 2 when it's made, because we need Hawa Hawaii back... The Diva laughed and said, "I will tell Boneyji." 

As we stood up, she said, "Bye" and I told her she has to do another Yash Chopra film like Chandni and Lamhe, to complete the trilogy. The Goddess replied, "Where is the script?" And with a smile she left. 

Probir Sengupta is a Creative Director, at a leading advertising agency.

Probir Sengupta on twttier (https://twitter.com/procreating): 

 

Pls note above: Sridevi signs her name "Sreedevi" not, Sridevi. Hmm. We've got the name of our blog wrong for... 20 years!! 

Sridevi holding up her Chandni poster

When a legend sees her own iconography...

Sridevi's poster of Chandni was the rage of 1989. Here she is in 2012, signing an autograph and holding up that memorable artwork. 

Autograph please: Sridevi signs Sreedevi!

The caption on the left picture reads "Sreedevi". As the pedantic have pointed out, technically we've got the name of this fan blog, the Facebook fan page, Twitter account spelled wrong; Its "Sreedevi" not "Sridevi", as her official documents (passports, visa papers) and autograph (ample evidence below) proves. When the actress took to social media in 2012, she (or her team) picked SrideviBKapoor, not SreedeviBKapoor!

Somewhere along the way in the 1980s, "Sree-" turned to "Sri-". We don't know when and why; someone proposed that it might be as film hoardings painted by labour artists charged by the alphabet, so ever persnickety and penny... well, paisa-pinching producers abbreviated! To save the all-mighty Ruppee! There's no evidence or reliable verification of this, but in the wild wild west of the web, accuracy be damned, interesting anecdotes and semi-truths live on.

A rose by any other name... etc etc.

The Myth of Sridevi's name! Its Sreedevi not Sridevi

As many Sridevi fans know, the biggest goof online is Sridevi's name. She was NOT born "Sridevi Amma Iyenger". She was born Sreedevi Ayappan. Pre marriage, she used to sign/autograph simply as A. Sreedevi (surname initial first, name as suffix). Post marriage, she signs it as Sreedevi Kapoor. There is no greater mystery to her name, but how the factual error has gone viral when even news sites report this as fact is simply erroneous at best, ludicrous at most! ‪

#‎ARoseByAnyOtherName‬ ‪#‎GetItRight‬ ‪#‎WhatsInaName‬ ‪#‎MononymousSridevi‬ ‪#‎JustCaustItsOnlineDoesntMakeItTrue‬!

Pre-marriage Sridevi autograph

Above: Post marriage Sridevi autograph!

We Met Sridevi.... well, technically, Sreedevi

Thursday, August 30, 2012.

Well, we met 'Sreedevi'. As Gauri Shinde says, "Oh no, we've spelled her name as 'Sridevi' in the film. In fact, all her movies have that spelling."

True, scroll down the credits of Lamhe or Chandni, its always 'Sridevi'. Spelling welling chodo, a rose by any other name would still smell the same. Right?!

Shinde pauses and exclaims, "Hmm. Sriji's been spelling her own name wrong all these years!" And we both burst out laughing.

Fab day. Thanks for the interview GS!

R

100 Luminaries book Launch: Sridevi and Anil Kapoor VIP guests at event

When former MOVIE magazine editors launched their book, 100 Luminaries of Indian Cinema, they got Sridevi and Anil Kapoor for the occasion. 

Sridevi arrived from the set of Judaai and as the caption aptly said, 'Sridevi was dressed simply and looked simply stunning."

She looks so cute as she cuts the cake. Just a hint of a smile... 

So used to her wearing bizarre costumes in Bollywood, simpler the outfit, the more gorgeous she looked. Sridevi was around the age of 33-34 here - and remained as beautiful as ever.