Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Tamil film Johnny. The movie was released in Madras - pre 'Chennai' - back in 15 August 1980.
At time, Sridevi was just 17; what a nuanced and mature performance. There's an excellent feature on the movie at Film Companion and this quote for us stands out;
"Johnny is also a film that tells us why Sridevi is well, Sridevi. It is easily one of her lifetime best roles. In the entire film she has only three-four pages of dialogue, none cinematic. Yet, how she scores! Sridevi speaks more with her unsaid words. She expresses her emotional trauma convincingly, not by creating a ruckus but merely by holding back tears. Archana is the soul of Johnny, and Sridevi gives life to Archana."
Read the full feature here: Forty Years Of Mahendran’s Rajinikanth And Sridevi-Starrer Johnny: Where Music And Love Pave The Way For Redemption
Above, rare stills of Sridevi with Rajinikanth in the iconic Tamil film Johnny (1980).
