Sridevi with her younger sister Sreelatha, mother Rajeshwari and father Ayappan

The one person who knows Sridevi (Sreedevi - not Sridevi for fact checkers!)  inside out, her only sister Sreelatha. Pre marriage, Sreelatha used to accompany Sridevi on film sets, locations, events and parties. After marriage, she's all but disappeared from the public eye and snaparazzi - until Instagram cropped up and she started posting (infrequently) and amending a few factual errors that Indian film press (especially online) has been falsely projecting. 

Here are some rare pics from the past of the two sisters. The two were inseparable back in the day and apparently one was confused as the other in Mumbai when Sri was new to the industry!

Also in the series below, Sridevi with her beloved family; mother Rajeshwari, sister Sreelatha and brother-in-law Sanjay Rangaswamy.

Sridevi's mother Rajeshwari with Sridevi in Ooty - during the making of Moondram Pirai

As Sridevi has repeatedly said in several interviews throughout the 1980s (pre-marriage to Boney Kapoor and long before the birth of her children Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor), she's happiest and most comfortable only in the company of her immediate family; father Ayyappan, mother Rajeshwari and sister Sreelatha. All of which is reflected in these pics.

Below pic of Sridevi holding her mother's arm is an all-time favourite picture. How gorgeous all the ladies look... 

Sridevi with her sister Sreelatha and mother Rajeshwari

Sridevi's mother Rajeshwari, Sridevi and Sreelatha in Mumbai at the audio launch of Kalaakaar (1983)

Rajeshwari and Srilatha

Sisters in arms: Srilatha with Sridevi

Sridevi with sister Sreelatha

Sridevi, Rajeshwari (Sridevi's mother) and Sreelatha (Sridevi's younger sister)

Sridevi with her mother Rajeshwari

Sridevi with her only sister Sreelatha

Sridevi at her sister Srilatha's wedding reception, seen here with sister Sreelatha and brother-in-law Sanjay Ramaswami 

Sridevi, Karunanidhi, Sridevi's father Ayyappan, sister Sreelatha and Sreelatha's husband Sanjay Ramaswami 

Sridevi, Vinod Mehra, Sridevi's brother-in-law Sanjay Ramaswami, Sridevi's only sister Sreelatha and actor Rishi Kapoor

Sridevi and Srilatha at Filmfare Awards in the 1980s

Sridevi, Srilatha and Rajeshwari at a film premiere

Ayappan with Sridevi

The late great Gautam Rajadhyaksha took this family portrait of Sridevi with her parents, father Ayyappan and mother Rajeshwari and sister Srilatha. As Sridevi said in an televised interview, her Telugu mother and Tamil father makes her the ultimate South Indian actress
born in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. 

Sridevi and Srilatha photographed by Gautam Rajadhyaksha for Cine Blitz magazine in the 1980s

Sridevi's family

Sridevi with sister Srilatha

Actor Rajesh Khanna in conversation with sisters Srilatha and Sridevi

Sridevi and Srilatha on the sets of Joshilay

Sridevi and Srilatha

Srilatha and Sridevi at a party in Jeetendra's house

Srilatha and Sridevi at home

Above: Rajeshwari Ayappan (Sridevi's mother) with Sridevi in Delhi, circa 1989

Maheshwari, Srilatha and Sridevi

Sridevi's family: Superstar Sridevi at home with her mother, father, sister and extended family

Sridevi's gorgeous family. Sister Sreelatha, father Ayyappan, mother Rajeshwari... and others. All the joint family colour pics shot by Gautam Rajadhyaksha for Cine Blitz magazine in the early 1990s. 

 

Let's do a quick fact and spell check here; Sridevi was born Ayappan Sreedevi. 

Her mother's name was Rajeshwari Reddy pre marriage. Post marriage, Ayappan Rajeshwari. 

 

Sridevi's father was a noted lawyer, Ayappan Naidu. 

 

Sridevi's only sibling was born Ayappan Sreelatha. Post-marriage, she's Sreelatha Sanjay Rangaswamy. 

 

Sreedevi post marriage was Sridevi Kapoor.  

Every other name attributed to Sridevi esp anything that says 'Sridevi was born Shree Amma Iyengar" is an absolute fallacy. The idiot writer in Bombay/Mumbai who first published that report in the early 1980s (either in Stardust or Star & Style - two magazines fueled by gossip and innuendo and zero fact checking), conflated the Iyer clan of Hema Malini with Sreedevi's. Sree was neither an Iyengar or a Malini but Ayappan. As she's famously said in televised interview's her mother tongue was Telugu but she was Tamil-born, aka Sivakasi-born Sreedevi, hence her fluency in both languages and cinema. Sridevi did more films in those than any other, though her earliest recognition and awards came in Kerala, from the Malyalam film industry. However, she only did about 25 Malayalam films at most (some were mere dubs of Tamil hits).

Film journalism in the early years ranked pretty low in the totem pole for the speculative nature of publishing without confirming facts. I take every quote, feature and interview from the 1980s especially with a bushel of salt. Thank God for video recordings in later years as we can at least get a few things confirmed on record. However, now with AI playing tricks, even that has become suspect.

Other images, from various sources.

Special thanks to Lakshmi Moorty for the pic of Sridevi with her younger sister Sreelatha.