Sridevi's first film as a child artist in the Tamil film Thunaivan (1969)

 

Thunaivan was released on 4 July 1969; and young Sridevi was barely five-years-old when she shot the devotional, mythological Tamil film. The cherub face, large eyes, ease in front of the camera and a multitude of expressions, she made a lasting impact in her brief role. Cinema critics were as harsh then as they are today, this excerpt from The Indian Express; "If you can ignore the cinema medium, ignore the shortcomings in acting, story, direction and the craft of film-making but are bent upon seeing only the Murugasthalas, you will not be disappointed."

Wow.

Well, for us Sridevi fans, the only reason to watch is the first glimpse of young Sridevi, who has an all too brief yet impactful role. 

Sridevi: Screen Goddess

Sridevi as a screen-Goddess (well, God!) in her very first film, Thunaivan. 1969. How prescient as she did indeed become a screen Goddess.

Sridevi as a Child Artist in the 1960s

And so the epic journey of Sridevi's stunning career began. Sridevi as a child artist in Thunaivan [Companion] in 1969. The Tamil film was a mythological drama directed by M. A. Thirumugam and produced by Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar. It was written by V. Balamurugan and the music was composed by K. V. Mahadevan. 

The film stars child artist who went on to become a legend, Sridevi, age 6, A. V. M. Rajan and Sowkar Janaki in lead roles while Major Sundararajan, Nagesh, Sachu, Vennira Aadai Nirmala and K. B. Sundarambal are featured in supporting roles. 

The film marked Sridevi's first leading film role of her career at the age of five (she started acting age 4) playing Lord Muruga. It was partially filmed in Black & White and Eastman color, and was a commercial success, running in theatres for over 100 days.

UPDATE; These images are not from Thunaivan, but from her first Malayalam film Kumara Sambhavam (1969). The error is regretted.

Sridevi as a child artist in Tamil film Thunaivan (1969)

As the upcoming film English Vinglish steps into week two of its production, we rewind all the way back to 1967, when young, four-year-old Sridevi first appeared on film. It's hard to say how many films Sridevi has done as having worked in five film industries (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayali and Hindi), we haven't yet formed a definitive, comprehensive list of Sridevi's films. But we're working on it!

Here is Sridevi, all of four, in her first ever on-screen appearance, looking absolutely adorable.

From an early Good Housekeeping interview, we quote: 

Sridevi, "Karviarasar introduced me to Devar (a Kannada director) and persuaded him to cast me as the child Lord Muruga in his movie, Thunaivan. In between, Devar asked mother to shave my hair for the role but she put her foot down and almost whisked me off the sets. Finally, I played baby Muruga with longer hair" (And of course baby Sridevi looked utterly adorable)

It was on the sets of Thunaivan that MG Ramachandran spotted Sridevi and signed her on for Nam Naadu (1969). And a spate of films began. Soon she was a star and still not 10!...."

More at earlier feature: Good Housekeeping.

More pics of Sridevi as a child artist here.



From Wikipedia: Thunaivan (Companion) is a 1969 Tamil film, a Hindu devotional drama  directed by M. A. Thirumugam and produced by Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar. The film script were written by V. Balamurugan. Music by K. V. Mahadevan

The film stars A. V. M. Rajan and Sowkar Janaki in lead roles while Major Sundararajan, Nagesh, Sachu, Vennira Aadai Nirmala and K. B. Sundarambal play supporting roles. Sridevi made her acting debut with this film in the role of little Lord Muruga.  This film was a musical hit and won a National Film Award for singer K. B. Sundarambal. The film was a commercial success and ran for over 100 days.