Sridevi: The OG: The AI Enhanced Sri

 How we imagine Sridevi returning... 

Sridevi: 90s Glamour: Neeta Lulla styles. Rakesh Shreshta photographs the Indian icon

 More images from this shoot in the archive here and here.

Celebrity designer Neeta Lulla on working with Sridevi

Celebrity designer Neeta Lulla on working with Sridevi when she started her career; 

"....By 1992 I had already worked with Sridevi on many projects. She asked me to come in and work on this film [Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja] as well, that was the time when she used to work in 2-3 films simultaneously so we were shooting on film first half of the day to a photoshoot and then another shoot the second half. 

The reason I selected this image is because I can never forget this rust colour. Sridevi had a great sense of colour and I owe my sensibility of colours to complimenting visuals from her. She described this colour as the colour we get when the marigold flower is semi dried and a fabric that had a very slight sheen and had a good fall, so I used a soft spun silk which was available then. 

The reason to use this image is also because I cannot forget the day of this shoot at RK Studio when we shot for this scene and then did a quick shoot with Gautam Rajadhyaksha for the cover of G Magazine in 30 minutes where I dressed her torso upwards in this look and then we resumed the film shoot later. Her dedication prioritisation and timing to complete her commitments is what has inspired me to this day."

-- Neeta Lulla

From Facebook

Sridevi's pout for Stardust

 

Credits: 

Photographer: Rakesh Shreshta 

Outfits: Neeta Lulla 

Make-up: Ifte 

 Stardust, April 1994.

31 Years of Khuda Gawah: Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi's Magnum Opus

 31 Years of Khuda Gawah: Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi's Magnum Opus. We've written sooooooo much about the film in the archive - so check it out here,

Sridevi the centrefold: Outfit and styling by Neeta Lulla

 

Sridevi the centrefold: Outfit and styling by Neeta Lulla 

You can see the entire series of pics here in the archive. 

Simply the Best: Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi

The grand union of the two biggest stars of Bollywood on screen was a momentous occasion - many magazines covered Khuda Gawah, during its grand, expensive production. G magazine India published a special supplement covering the making of the epic movie. A collector's edition.

Left: Excerpt, MOVIE magazine, June 1990. 

Exquisite Sridevi: Rosey white

Gautam Rajadhyaksha had a slight preference of La Dixit, but he said he loved Sridevi too. One from the archives... 

Many thanks to designer Neeta Lulla for help with the captions and credits. 

Neeta Lulla

@neeta_lulla

·

Jul 25

Styled for G Magazine ,editor @bhawanasomaaya , photographed by Late Gautam Rajadhyaksha

Replying to @neeta_lulla and @bhawanasomaaya

Sridevi: April 1994: Outfit by Neeta Lulla

Ya know in the 80s and often in the early 90s credits for photoshoots were almost always missing?! Things changed in the late 90s. 

Credits: 

Photographer: Rakesh Shreshta

Outfits: Neeta Lulla

Make-up: Ifte

Stardust, April 1994. 

Sridevi in silver: 90s with Neeta Lulla ensemble

 Sridevi in silver: 90s with Neeta Lulla ensemble 

Bridal Pallavi in Lamhe: Sridevi's flawless performance in the classic

Sridevi as a bride in Lamhe. The film was beautiful, so was she. 

When I look at this screengrab of Sridevi as Pallavi the classic, am reminded of a quote from Anil Kapoor when he spoke to Filmfare magazine in the 90s.

"We did Lamhe together," says Anil Kapoor "I didn’t agree with her interpretation of the role in Lamhe. There was no need for her to be extra glamorous and wear coloured lenses while playing the Rajasthani belle. In any case, she was doing such sort of stuff in her other films. But her acting in the film was something else. Why should I complain? She even won the Filmfare award for it."

May 1996 
Filmfare

You can read the full interview in the archive here. 

Oddly enough, we even agree with the constructive criticism by Kapoor as it comes from a good place - the intention is good, its to improve not belittle the great actress who was surrounded by Yes-men around that time. 

We've had too many rabid fans shake in rage at even the slightest critique of Sridevi - more so after her tragic death - but blind faith and fanaticism leads to nowhere good! 

Sridevi's 90s look trending

One of these images is touched up by Instagram filters, the other is the original published in the 90s in many a film magazine. 

Hmm. There isn't much of a difference but if you know, you know... 

You can see dozens of pics from this sensational shoot by Rakesh Shreshta in the archive here. The outfit was designed by Neeta Lulla, a fav of Sridevi, Juhi Chawla and Aishwarya Rai - among a million others. 

Sridevi in Bollywood was 🔥

Neeta Lulla created the wildly, fabulously over-the-top headdress and costume for Sridevi, for the grand finale firey song and dance routine for Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja

Sridevi

Gorgeous Sridevi in gold! 
 

The original vs the app: Sridevi images corrupted by fans

Sridevi's original image was posted earlier by us in the archives (see the entire series here). Fans took hold, made the image worse and posted it on Instagram. 

We are horrified by the result, the photographer is and so is the designer. The conceit of the person that thinks they can 'better' an image created by a team of professionals. That face melt app that mutates the skin to such a degree, Sridevi ends up looking like a waxwork figure of herself. Dreadful. 

Credits: 

Photographer: Rakesh Shreshta

Outfits: Neeta Lulla

Make-up: Ifte

Stardust, April 1994.