Shilpa Shirodkar, "Sridevi was so humble"

Shilpa Shirodkar at Bollywood Bubble, "Khuda Gawah, From a very beautiful scene in the film. Working with an actress like Sridevi, I never felt like I was a new girl. Sriji was fabulous, kind, humble and very helpful during  a scene or dancing, One of my favourite, favourite co-actors. Now both her kids are in films. Khushi and Janhvi and they look so beautiful I’m sure Sri is very very happy watching them and protecting them…"

Shilpa Shirodkar, "I missed Sridevi a lot, I've learned so much from her, she was very fun loving, very happy and very very kind!"

Shilpa Shirodkar, "I missed Sridevi a lot, I've learned so much from her, she was very fun loving, very happy and very very kind!"

Sridevi and Shilpa Shirodkar dancing in Khuda Gawah

 

Sridevi and Shilpa Shirodkar dancing in Khuda Gawah

Sridevi, Amitabh Bachchan and Shilpa Shirodkar on the sets of Khuda Gawah (1992)

Sridevi, Amitabh Bachchan and Shilpa Shirodkar on the sets of Khuda Gawah (1992)

Actress Shilpa Shirodkar celebrated her birthday on the film's set, while shooting the title song. In below picture find Amitabh Bachchan, Shilpa Shirodkar, Mukul Anand (the film's director) and Sridevi among others. 

Shilpa Shirodkar on working with Sridevi in Khuda Gawah

shilpashirodkar73 Verified 26 years ago on this day an iconic film released #khudagawah . Close to my heart ❤️ Even today every shot has beautiful memories . At 18yrs then i had the previledge to work with the legends. #amitji #srideviji #dannyji#kirankumar #nagarjuna and my favourite director #mukulanand .. 26 yrs later im still working in beautiful industry..Thank you god for being so kind..🙏🙏🙏 and a big thank you to all of you who watched each film of mine... #lovemywork#keepwatchingoverus ❣️❣️❣️



UPDATE: Shilpa Shirodkar tweets her condolences upon hearing the shocking news of Sridevi's untimely demise. So does her sister Namrata Shirodkar. 




shilpashirodkar73's profile picture shilpashirodkar73 Verified RIP Sridevi ji.. no words to express anything 🙏

Sridevi in white, on the sets of Khuda Gawah

Sridevi looking lovely in a simple white Salwar kameez. 

From a scene in Khuda Gawah. 1992

A look she had in a scene with Shilpa Shirodkar. 

Click to enlarge

Sridevi introduces Nagarjuna to Khuda Gawah Producers: Southern Superstar replaces Sanjay Dutt

Excerpt from Filmfare magazine;

How Sridevi was instrumental in getting south superstar Nagarjuna into Khuda Gawah when Sanjay Dutt left the movie.

NAGARJUNA IN KHUDA GAWAH

The case over who'd replace Sanjay Dutt in Khuda Gawah is finally over, director Mukul Anand and producer Manoj Desai flew to Hyderabad to get popular South star Nagarjuna to sign on the dotted line. But not without a bit of drama, caused, as Mukul puts it, "by a certain camp which seems to be specialising in manipulations and cross-legging. A distributor was even persuaded to rush to Nagarjuna to tell him that Sanjay had not left the film, and that the impression was being created to con the young South star to sign a bit role." But when Mukul showed Sanjay Dutt's letter to Nagarjuna, he was convinced. But he still had some doubts about the role. "So I showed him parts of the film - including all the scenes shot with Sanjay," says Mukul, "and he (Nagarjuna) instantly agreed to do the film."



Adds Mukul, "The canard spread by Sunjay that his role was being sacrificed to boost Bachchan's is totally unfounded. It's a very interesting role, or else a choosy guy like Nagarjuna, who has turned down dozens of others after Shiva, wouldn't have accepted it. He isn't the kind who'd accept just any role. He has ample resources to do only those films which he wants to."


The meeting ground for the deal was created by Sridevi, who is working in a Telugu film with Nagarjuna. "She had spoken to him about the film, and she initiated a meeting between us. She introduced me to Nag and withdrew from the scene," says Mukul. Sridevi, who plays a double role in Khuda Gawah, seems to be immensely pleased with the manner in which the film has shaped, and is very keen on its early completion.

Many second-line actors and promising newcomers had been making a beeline for the role after Sunjay Dutt's abrupt decision to quit the film after shooting for it. The actor Mukul was keen on for the role was Jackie Shroff, but Jackie wanted to avoid walking into a controversial situation.

Khuda Gawah now moves into the final spell with a fairly long schedule in Bombay in early August, followed by one in Nepal. it's slated for release in the early part of 1992. It would be Bachchan's last film before he takes a long break.

Click on images below to enlarge

MOVIE magazine excerpt: 

Mukul Anand: "During the making of Khuda Gawah, the role we offered Sunju was the best that could be offered to him at that stage of his career. At that time he was dying to do the role. Even Nagarjuna was very happy with the role. The role had not been cut further. If we had cut Sunju's role, we would have to cut Sridevi's role as well. Sunju's absence in the film was a loss for us both. However, Sunju and I don't talk about all this now. 

MOVIE: Ajay Devgan insists that he was the first choice to replace Sunjay in Khuda Gawah until certain strings were pulled in favour of Nagarjuna. Is it true? 

Mukul Anand: Ajay Devgan was considered as a replacement for Sunjay. A lot of actors like Rahul Roy and Akshay Kumar were also looked into. But since the role needed somebody with a set image, Nagarjuna was taken. He was in his own right a star and very keen to work with me. 

 

Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi on the sets of Khuda Gawah (1992): Rare Pics: Sanjay Dutt in Khuda Gawah

During the making of the epic Hindi film Khuda Gawah, a lot of scenes and cast members didn't exactly make the final cut. 

Instead of Nagarjuna, Sanjay Dutt was supposed to be the young love interest for Sridevi in the film - in the second half of the moive - but for some reason or another, he got the boot. If you google - you'll find the controversial answers but it hasn't been verified so we won't repost gossip here! 

A scene where the father, played by Amitabh Bachchan, meets his daughter, Sridevi, was shot, but did not make the final edit either. 

Would be great to have the blue ray of this film with extra scenes and commentary. A director's cut with the epic-ness of this glorious film...

Hopefully one day... 

Excerpt from Showtime magazine - as you read this years after the film's release, you can see that the movie went through a lot of changes before the final version hit the screen:

The superstar (Amitabh) matches his wits with the superstarni (Sridevi) in this tough yet tender epic, of passion and pathos. For the first time in an Amitabh movie, a heroine has managed a double role! 

Afghanistan in all its starkness forms the backdrop for Amitabh and his beloved Sridevi in the beginning. However, when the Pathan, accompanied by his daughter comes to India on a mission, back home his beloved dies. Still accomplishing his mission, he stays on until his daughter grows up and is enmeshed in a love triangle of her own, involving Sunjay Dutt and Shilpa Shirodkar. Amitabh plays an elderly role. In spite of all the other tangents, Amitabh says, "The film revolves around the father-daughter relationship."