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As the Academy Awards air this morning (we're in Asia!), I'm reflecting on the number of actors and directors who have stated on record that Sridevi, as an actor, was comparable to anyone in the West. Her vast, oceanic talents and infinite gifts meant she could have adapted to any role or any field. She acted in films when she didn't even know the language (Malayalam, Kannada—and even Hindi in the early 1980s!), yet she learned and adapted quickly.
Instead of Sridevi going to Hollywood to work in an English-language film, her radiance was such that she could have brought the Oscar to India through her performances alone.
Sridevi 2.0—in her second act after marriage, kids, and hiatus—was just gearing up, delivering one flawless performance after another... and then fate intervened so cruelly.
While contemporary stars walk the red carpet or get the privilege of presenting an award, had we bided our time, Sridevi would have, could have brought home an Oscar like no other star. Alas...
Of her 54 years, she gave 50 to the film industry, appearing in 266 films (definitely not 300 if we count strictly released theatrical films). There is no one who gave so much to the craft, the industry, and cared so deeply about every performance from start to finish.
She sacrificed her health, personal life, and family for her work. These posthumous felicitations have yet to meaningfully honor her worth.
Sridevi was honored in the In Memoriam section at the 2018 Academy Awards (along with Shashi Kapoor and others), which is not the same as winning an Oscar (a couple of people wrote and published this incorrectly), and yet it still seemed... not enough.
Just as we still remember Meena Kumari, Nargis, Nutan, and Madhubala for generations, Sridevi will be remembered forever.
BTW, here's the real pic of Sridevi in Oscar de la Renta at IIFA below:
Instead of Sridevi going to Hollywood to work in an English-language film, her radiance was such that she could have brought the Oscar to India through her performances alone.
Sridevi 2.0—in her second act after marriage, kids, and hiatus—was just gearing up, delivering one flawless performance after another... and then fate intervened so cruelly.
While contemporary stars walk the red carpet or get the privilege of presenting an award, had we bided our time, Sridevi would have, could have brought home an Oscar like no other star. Alas...
Of her 54 years, she gave 50 to the film industry, appearing in 266 films (definitely not 300 if we count strictly released theatrical films). There is no one who gave so much to the craft, the industry, and cared so deeply about every performance from start to finish.
She sacrificed her health, personal life, and family for her work. These posthumous felicitations have yet to meaningfully honor her worth.
Sridevi was honored in the In Memoriam section at the 2018 Academy Awards (along with Shashi Kapoor and others), which is not the same as winning an Oscar (a couple of people wrote and published this incorrectly), and yet it still seemed... not enough.
Just as we still remember Meena Kumari, Nargis, Nutan, and Madhubala for generations, Sridevi will be remembered forever.
BTW, here's the real pic of Sridevi in Oscar de la Renta at IIFA below:
