Sridevi in Ram Avtar

A large-scale film with Sridevi, Sunny Deol and Anil Kapoor, yet another film where two heroes pine over the singular sensation that was Sridevi. 

Released in 1988, the fashion, makeup, everything was mid-80s styling! 
 

Ram Avtar poster: Sridevi dominates yet again: 38 Year Anniversary today!

Starting to see clearly why Sunny Deol has resented Sridevi and her success, cultural dominance, presence and shine for so long. The OG MCP, he doesn't like his female costars to shine brighter than him. Can't believe he brought up Sridevi's name yet again in recent interviews. 

There's no greater gage for how big a star is than measuring the amount of real estate they take up in film posters. Sridevi's face, figure and outfits, the number of times her image is repeated all shows the power that she had over the audience. And over her co-stars. Much to the chagrin of not-so-Sunny-D.

When they first started working together, in Joshilay, Sunny Deol was the OG nepo baby, son of Dharmendra who had the lead part. Young Sridevi was 21 when she first started working with him. Though already a star down South (in both Tamil and Telugu film, known in Kannada and Malayalam films), she was a shy newcomer who didn't speak the language or speak to Sunny throughout the making of the movie! We all know Sridevi was notoriously shy, and so was Sunny Deol, but they had a quiet working relationship of complete non-interference. By the mid to late '80s, Sridevi pulled a 180; hits, title roles, double roles, she left Deol in the dust. After her rejecting a role in his home production, they never worked together again. I knew there was trouble in the 90s, when in an interview with Dinesh Raheja in MOVIE magazine, Sunny said, "I worked a lot with... whats-her-name, Sridevi too". Then he went on to drag her a little in Aap ki Adalat, then he posted a condolence message on Twitter - then deleted his post on Social media! In Baaje Payal, he appeared briefly and it's the most reluctant praise of Sridevi by a fellow actor, like pulling teeth. He said of Sridevi's dancing, "People say she's good, so she must be good!". Or something to that effect. Well, no one has ever said Sunny Deol's dancing is any good so why ask an opinion of someone who has none to give?  

Ram Avtar, the poor man's Sangam, was released on 20 May, 1988. Memorable for a Sridevi-Lata Mangehskar song - certainly not the performances of the male leads. 

Legend has it, Sridevi stated in a magazine article that "everything on paper was right about the film. The producers, cast, music, story. She had no idea why the public did not like the film."

To be honest, the movie is entertaining in tiny parts but mostly its loud, its not that funny in the comedic parts, in the dramatic parts plausibility is stretched to the limit, as the film's story is so obvious, it gets boring and predictable really fast. The fashion is.. well, of its time, and the mid 80s slop just doesn't work (the movie started production in 1984, and the film eventually released four years later in 1988). Sridevi's hair, fashion, size, style and trends change throughout the movie! 

Think mostly people remember the film for its songs and dances - little else. 

Sridevi and Anil Kapoor in Ram Avtar (1988)

The songs were a smash hit, the film, not so much. Sridevi and Anil Kapoor in the poor man's remake of Sangam, Ram Avtar. 

 

Sridevi in costume in Ram Avtar

Released on 20 May 1988, Sridevi had two massive hit songs in the film Ram Avtar, Ungli Main Anghooti and Na Na Na Karte, Karte. 

More drama occured behind the scenes than on camera - as we've archived here. 

Just heard this on imdb about Sunny Deol's fight with journalists; 

The Screen [trade publication like Variety in the US] newspaper ran an ad of Ram Avtar with Anil Kapoor's name written above Sunny Deol's. A few of Sunny Deol's rough and tough friends entered the newspaper office and demanded to know who wrote the ad. Journalist Ali Peter John came forward and told them it was him. The toughest of the bunch yelled at Ali Peter, alleging how dare he put another actor's name above Sunny Deol's?! Ali stated that he did that in accordance of seniority and Anil Kapoor, who made his debut before his co-star, was senior to Sunny Deol. The man yelled that he did not care, " Take this as the first and last warning!" If he would not change the ad, there would dire consequences. The men then left. Ali Peter John called and told him what happened. Dharmendra told Ali Peter John he was sorry for the incident and he would talk to Sunny and make him understand. Ali Peter John would keep his distance from Sunny Deol for the next decade!

All this is alleged. Not sure if there's a grain of truth to it, although scuffles between stars and the film press is legendary. 

Sridevi strikes a pose: On the sets of Ram Avtaar (1988)

 

Sridevi strikes a pose: On the sets of Ram Avtar (1988): From the comic song and dance routine that's a highlight in the movie. Sridevi was one of the few who did a fine balancing act of comedy, sensuality, seduction and in perfect tandem to the beat.
 

Rare pic: Anil Kapoor and Sridevi on the sets of Ram Avtar

Rare pic: Anil Kapoor and Sridevi on the sets of Ram Avtar . We have a dozen other pics from this day's shoot in the archive here.

Gorgeous Sridevi on the sets of Ram Avtar (1988)

Gorgeous Sridevi on the sets of Ram Avtar (1988)
 

Close but distant: Sridevi and Sunny Deol in Ram Avtar

Close but distant: Sridevi and Sunny Deol in Ram Avtar 

 

Sridevi in Ram Avtar

Wonder if Sridevi kept track of how often she was in Ooty shooting song and dance routines in gardens and forests... 

We tried to make a list but between her Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films alone, it was too much. 

And yet, we just didn't have enough of Sridevi. 

Sridevi

Sridevi on the sets of the Hindi film Ram Avtar (1988).

Feeling mellow in yellow: Sridevi: On the sets of Ram Avtar in Bollywood

Gorgeous Sridevi 

Feeling mellow in yellow: Sridevi: On the film set of Ram Avtar in the 1980s in Bollywood 

The eternal love-triangle: Sridevi, Anil Kapoor and Sunny Deol in Ram Avtar (1988): 34 year anniversary

The eternal love-triangle: Sridevi, Anil Kapoor and Sunny Deol in Ram Avtar (1988): 34 year anniversary.

Bollywood's obsession with unrequited love, the sacrificing friend, the woman stuck in the middle, the high octane drama and songs shot in Ooty and Kashmir. 

Read up on the complicated history of this film here. 

TBT: The hostile sets of Ram Avtar with Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Sunny Deol

TBT: The hostile sets of Ram Avtar with Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Sunny Deol 

The poor man's Sangam didn't work wonders at the box-office and the critics shot it down before the film could fly. 

It's always surprising when film-makers re-make classics or blockbusters when original films shouldn't be touched. Can you - dear reader - think of any remake that was better than the original?! 

Why not make a good idea badly made in the past, and try to fix the errors instead? Just pontificating here for no reason. 

Lining up Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Sunny Deol on the sets of Ram Avtar was a coup for tabloid photographers, after all they were the biggest stars of the 80s. As mentioned earlier, there was more drama off-set than on screen. Scroll back to read.

Above: (L) Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor and Sridevi in Ram Avtar, (R) Raj Kapoor, Vyjanthimala and Rajender Kumar in Sangam. 

Sridevi on Bollywood sets in the 1980s

Sridevi on the sets of Ram Avtar (1988)  The pop of colour in her salwaars, 80s fashion, makeup. Sridevi experimented a lot with the styling in this film, a mix of western and eastern.