A Hindi tabloid asks, Who is the most beautiful?!

 Madhubala, Dimple Kapadia, Sridevi... a Hindi tabloid asks, who is the most beautiful? From 1987! 

Anil Kapoor and Sridevi on the cover of a Hindi tabloid

 

Throwback to the summer of 1993, during the aggressive pre-release promotions of Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja, Sridevi and Anil Kapoor carpet bombed every film magazine cover real estate and gave endless - and mostly the same- interviews. The promotion rigamarole can be exhausting. As Sridevi famously said during Mom film promotions (or was it EV?!) "Picture se dar nahin lagta, promotions se dar lagta hai!"  

Sridevi on the sets of Nagina: Cover of Movie Jagan magazine

The internet killed off so many magazines, every year I discover a title, only to hear it has long shut shop. Like this Hindi film magazine, Movie Jagan. RIP the Hindi tabloid... 

Sridevi on the sets of Nagina. She looked so beautiful in the film and acted so well. 

Before there was Hollywood Reporter India, there was... Filmy Reporter!

The Hindi tabloid from the 80s is classic 80s film journalism; no quotes, gossip and innuendo, garish colours of all the top stars slapped together like a high school magazine cover with cutouts and square collages. But they were mindless fun! 

Sridevi, Mithun, Juhi Chawla, Jackie Shroff - the rockin' 80s. 

Sridevi's look from a song/dance scene in Guru - magazine from 1988!
 

Filmfare in Hindi: Sridevi dominated the cover

 

Sridevi on the cover of Filmfare, the Hindi edition. 

Filmfare was huge in the 1980s, it was bi-monthly, ie two issue a month, not two issues a year! It had Hindi version. Middle East version... The media dominated. Today... not so much. 

The gatekeepers are no longer the behemoths and omniscient omnipotent ones they used to be. 

Raakhee, Shatrughan Singha and Sridevi on the cover of Hindi tabloid Mayapuri

Raakhee, Shatrughan Singha and Sridevi on the cover of Hindi tabloid Mayapuri 


 

Cover girls: Sridevi, Rekha, Dimple Kapadia: Ladies of the 80s

Cover girls: Sridevi, Rekha, Dimple Kapadia: Ladies of the 80s

Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi on the cover of a Hindi Tabloid

Sridevi's costume from the film Banjaran - a rare still of Sridevi smiling on set. 

 

Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Juhi Chawla in Hindi tabloids

Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Juhi Chawla in Hindi tabloids 

Hindi press with Sridevi, Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher

Hindi press with Sridevi, Anil Kapoor, Anupam Kher

Sridevi on the cover of Mayapuri: In costume as Heer

 

Bespectacled Sridevi on the cover of Mayapuri, the Hindi tabloid

Bespectacled Sridevi on the cover of Mayapuri, the Hindi tabloid 

Photos by Rakesh Shreshta. 

 

Sridevi in Hindi tabloids in the early 90s

Sridevi in a Hindi tabloid... Sridevi on the sets of Gumrah.

Hindi publicity for Roop ki Rani Choron Ka Raja: Tbt to 1993

Hindi publicity for Roop ki Rani Choron Ka Raja

Sridevi on the sets of Chaalbaaz

 "Sridevi ab devi nahin rahi..." or so this tabloid headline said back in 1989! 

Not sure what the article implied but magnificent Sridevi on the sets of her award-winning film. 

Sridevi in media: Tabloid darling of a nation

Sridevi in media: Tabloid darling of a nation

Sridevi's iconic pose in Nagina

 Sridevi's iconic pose in Nagina 

 Sirdevi's images and gossip related to her life on and off screen fueled several tabloids. 

Sridevi in Hindi tabloids in the mid-80s

 Sridevi in Hindi tabloids in the mid-80s

Sridevi and Govinda on the cover of Menaka magazine

Sridevi and Govinda on the cover of Menaka magazine. 

Sridevi's costumes and looks from Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. 

Throwback to 1991! 

Sridevi's bold shoot back in 1984!

When Hindi tabloids were Rs. 15! 

श्रीदेवी भुल्लेभाला! 

रोशन - गाने दरअसल 'श्रीदेवी' 

Well - for those days, this was considered controversial! How times have changed... 

Sridevi was beautiful and cheeky, never vulgar nor distasteful. In fact, she was the tastemaker of her time. For all time.

Outtakes from a magazine cover shoot.