From Chaalbaaz in London Backlash to Eetha Acclaim Shraddha Kapoor for the Win!

Shraddha Kapoor: From Chaalbaaz in London [a stupid idea] Backlash to Eetha Acclaim

In 2021, Shraddha Kapoor found herself at the centre of heated debate when she was announced as the lead in Chaalbaaz in London, the much-talked-about remake of the 1989 cult classic Chaalbaaz. The announcement on April 3, 2021, drew mixed reactions, with many questioning the decision to step into the shoes of the late Sridevi, who had delivered a legendary, Filmfare Award-winning double-role razar sharp performance. Critics and fans alike called it a risky - even unwise - move, and the project was eventually put on hold, quietly fading from headlines.

Cut to 2026, and Shraddha is once again making waves, but this time for all the right reasons. The actress is receiving widespread praise and excitement for the trailer of her upcoming film Eetha, with audiences and critics lauding her performance and screen presence.

The contrasting headlines five years apart highlight the unpredictable nature of Bollywood: one ambitious project that invited scepticism, and another that appears to be winning hearts. While Chaalbaaz in London remains in limbo, Shraddha’s current run and trailer response - particularly while comparing with the tepid response to Alia Bhatt's Alpha - is incredible. At age 39, Shraddha is finally getting her bouquets after a consistent run of decent performances, but mixed box-office } the only thing the industry seems to respond to. No matter what the box-office will be, Shraddha's got a winner at hand - the movie looks fantastic. The same, alas, cannot be said of Alia's Alpha...  And no, we weren't paid to troll - we are all fans of both as Sridevi was a fan of both. 

Our instinctive, gut response to Chaalbaaz in London was ... oh No! It sounds stupid and desperate. Pankaj Parasher's box-office track record has not been great - which has been well documented. Worse still, he's also made some, terrible movies recently and hasn't made a decent or successful film in two decades. Like Subash Ghai, he's lost his touch and has no idea what the pulse of the current, fractured audience is. As Taal 2 sounds like a frantic lean on an IP, so did Chaalbaaz the sequel! 

Shraddha - despite what her father says earlier - has shown a strong comedic side in social media, in live interviews, but so far hasn't done a great and memorable comedic performance (unlike Sri, Juhi, Kajol, Kareena, Rekha, Hema etc).  Her dramatic attempts have been... ok, pales in comparison to 'the great Sridevi.' Thankfully, it looks like the remake is shelved. 

The criticism Shradha faced is familiar - as an aspiring Sridevi/Bollywood historian, we are familiar with the fact that Sridevi faced early critique in 1988-1989 too. It was obvious Chaalbaaz was a modernised retelling of Seetha aur Geetha, which was already a remake of [gender-different] Ram aur Shyam. Sridevi had to have box-office clout of Hema Malini and the acting range of thespian Dilip Kumar. To a great extent she fulfilled those high expectations; the film was a box-office hit and critically acclaimed and got Sridevi one of her several Best Actress nods. Be it Kareena Kapoor or Kajol, or even Ayushman Khurrana many state this is a favourite female-led performance. 

BTW for those who like to keep track the double role dramedy of errors has been done several times by stars of all stripes; 

Iconic Double Role Films in Indian Cinema

Film	Year	Actor (Double Role)	Box Office Verdict	Critical Acclaim
Ramudu Bheemudu	1964	N.T. Rama Rao (NTR)	Major Hit / Blockbuster	High (Trendsetter in Telugu cinema)
Ram Aur Shyam	1967	Dilip Kumar	Super Hit	High (Classic, widely loved)
Sita Aur Gita	1972	Hema Malini	Super Hit	Very High (Cult classic, iconic)
Chaalbaaz	1989	Sridevi	Hit	Very High (Sridevi’s dual performance legendary)
Kishen Kanhaiya	1990	Anil Kapoor	Hit	Moderate to Good (Commercial entertainer)
Judwaa	1997	Salman Khan	Super Hit	Moderate (Popular mass entertainer)
Duplicate	1998	Shah Rukh Khan	Average	Mixed
Judwaa 2	2017	Varun Dhawan	Super Hit	Mixed to Negative (Big commercial success)

* Source: Compiled from box office reports, Wikipedia & film reviews. Data is approximate and a guesstimation for older films.

Sridevi's 70s film director passes at age 84! Bharathiraja and Sridevi worked on 3 films!

Just heard the news that Tamil film director Bharathiraja  passed away earlier today. He was 84. The prolific filmmaker directed Sridevi in three films; two iconic hits and one forgettable flop. 

Sridevi was his muse and leading lady in; 

1. 16 Vayathinile (1977) 

His directorial debut, a landmark rural drama where Sridevi played Mayil alongside Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. 

2. Sigappu Rojakkal (1978) 

A psychological thriller where Sridevi starred opposite Kamal Haasan. It was made into Red Rose with Rajesh Khanna and Poonam Dhiloon reprising the roles of Kamal and Sri.  

3.  Solva Sawan (1979) 

Bharathiraja’s Hindi directorial debut (a remake of 16 Vayathinile), marking Sridevi’s first Bollywood entry. Unfortunately, the third remake flopped. Sridevi never worked with him thereafer. 

In an interview with newspapers, soon after Sridevi, tragic, untimely death back in 2018, the director spoke to the papers. 

Sridevi had transformed herself from a child artist into a heroine at the age of 13 in Tamil cinema and went on to dominate the country's film industry displaying her outstanding talent, expressed veteran filmmaker Bharathiraja, who gave Sridevi one of her earliest breakthrough roles in Tamil cinema with 16 ‘Vayathinile’. When Bharathiraja remade the national award winning movie in Hindi as ‘Solva Sawan’, it had marked Sridevi's entry into Bollywood.

He said, "I can proudly say that I introduced Sridevi to the Hindi film world. When I initially told her about the remake, she was hesitant to act in the Hindi movie but I convinced her. Through her hard work, she rose to rule Bollywood too. She was an extraordinary talent. She had an inherent talent to grasp things fast. She did not study in any college or university but she can speak nine languages.”

He also said, "I had seen Kamal's movie and I know he will become a big actor. I saw Sridevi first time in the shooting of ‘16 Vayathinile’. I was wondering how a young actor like her will match the talents of Kamal. But she has matched him in every scene. I know she will go places.”

He further added, "Many male actors refuse to risky stunts scenes nowadays but she insisted doing it on her own. We had a double ready to go. She refused and did her own stunts in the movie. It shows her commitment.”

Sridevi portrait on exhibition

The Hindi film industry completed 113 years and @ngma.mumbai has turned their art gallery into a photography exhibition. 

NGMA, Mumbai, Churchgate
Only till 30th June
🎫 ₹20
⏰ Monday closed
11 am - 6 pm on Weekends |
11 am - 8 pm on Weekdays

Even now, Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi find themselves next to each other.

This Sridevi and Chiranjeevi Newsbyte is Trending: But is it True?

What social media has done is gotten rid of the gatekeepers of reliable news - hang on - the responsible ones, the fact checkers, the verifiers, the ones who look at a piece of information and think is this news? Is it true? Is it libelous? Or is it plausible fiction?! 

We are constantly leaving comments on posts - be it false or flattering, it has to be fact-checked. 

There doesn't seem to be any compunction to question a piece of information - to even randomly check on Google... 

Now this bit about stars earning 1croare - its plausible, possible and potentially true. Chiranjeevi and Sridevi were Telugu superstars and their film JVAS was a massive hit - and Telugu superstars famously are one of the highest paid people in the film industry... The iconic duo earning as much possible - but we need a reliable source to confirm the news on record, otherwise we take it with a pinch of salt.

Now this left newsbyte that has been trending - it could have used a very simple fact check. 90s supermodel Deepak Malhotra (now known as Dino Martelli), is best remembered for playing Siddharth Kumar Bhatnagar (Pallavi's husband) in the 1991 Yash Chopra film Lamhe opposite Sridevi. But it wasn't just 'one' role as he went on to appear in Tejasvini (1994) — his second and final film role (opposite Vijayshanti). There were other films that were launched but never took off - which was often true in the 80s and 90s  - there are innumerable failure-to-launch movies that make headlines, but are never completed. 

 

News: Sridevi makes headlines the world over

To see the news in black and white in papers around the world. The shock of it... 

Khushi Kapoor in Mom 2: Sridevi's swansong gets a sequel no one asked for

Khushi Kapoor in Mom 2: Sridevi's swansong gets a sequel no one asked for 

One of several career-defining performances by Sridevi, Mom was a challenging title role that Sridevi fulfilled to perfection. 

Khushi Kapoor, Sridevi's youngest... has only garnered... how do I put this politely for Sri's baby... less than ideal reviews for her film releases so far. The youngling may be a fashion icon and has a fan-following (and an alarming number of trolls) but she hasn't got the chops for a role of such complexity and nuance and showmanship. 

But you never know... 

Above: Diet Sabya gives Khushi Kapoor her flowers. A young fashion icon with more hits than flops... when it comes to red carpet looks, if not box-office tills. 

How Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan lost the award for Khuda Gawah

Excerpt:

"...In an earlier interview, producer Manoj Desai told me, almost casually, about the time when his film Khuda Gawah bagged seven Filmfare awards. “It should have won nine. But I could not purchase the other two awards. Someone highly placed in Filmfare told me that Amitabh and Sridevi would get the awards if some pending bills in the Centaur Hotel could be taken care of.” 

After this story was published in Outlook, there was no reaction at all. Not a single call, not a single letter from any reader. Nobody cared, or everybody except the reporter knew it already. It was a flop story. 

From Open Magazine: The Power of Nonsense.

Breaking News: Publisher, Editor and Writer Pritish Nandy is No More: RIP To a Media Mogul

Breaking News: Publisher, Editor and Writer Pritish Nandy is No More: RIP To a Media Mogul! 

For Sridevi fans, the former editor of Filmfare means a lot. After all, Pritish Nandy was the first to call young Sridevi, who was barely 21, the Number One actress of India in a Filmfare cover story. It was the summer of 1984, Filmfare was Rs 3 and published twice a month! Ah, the glory days of film magazine mania when there was no other recourse for Bollywood fanatics, except tabloids and film magz. At a time when Hema Malini, Rekha, Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi were still around, new-to-Bombay Sridevi was labelled "Unquestionably No.1" in July of '84! She was a month shy of turning 21! 

As he wrote on Twitter back in 2018, "In 1984 when Filmfare was ailing, I was asked to take over as Editor. My first issue had #Sridevi on the cover, headlined No 1. She was not. Not yet. The issue sold out. Filmfare was back. And in six months everyone acknowledged her as No 1."

Sad day for Indian media, one of its icons is no more. RIP good Sir. 

October 2024: Breaking News: Sridevi honoured with a Street Name after her

Woke up this morning to read the news--courtesy of Boney Kapoor's official Instagram--that a 'chowk', ie street is being named about Sridevi. 

Great. 

Hopefully its a nice clean one! And fans will help maintain it. 

According to several news outlets online, Sridevi's husband, film producer Boney Kapoor, and youngest daughter, Khushi Kapoor, inaugurated a chowk in Lokhandwala, Mumbai, as a tribute to her. The event took place earlier today [Saturday, October 12, 2024] at 6 pm IST in the presence of political leaders and colleagues of the late actor. Sridevi's family was joined by veteran actor Shabana Azmi at the launch. The chowk is located at the junction near her Mumbai residence, Green Acres Tower, where she had lived for many years. 

Other posthumous tributes to Sridevi;

• Madame Tussaud's wax figurine of Sridevi (er... a misstep but its the thought that counts!)
• Switzerland's tribute to Sridevi with a statue (by the way, since this newsbyte, nothing seems to have come from it!)
• Sridevi fan creates a Sridevi doll in her honour

A Sridevi landmark

Honour To Eternal Sridevi !! 

A junction in the Lokhandwala Complex locality of Andheri, Bombay has been named Sreedevi Kapoor Chowk. The chowk is on the same road on which the late actress lived with husband Boney Kapoor and her two daughters, Janhvi and Khushi, in Green Acres tower.

TBT: This headline from 2016: Sridevi to surge ahead

 

Wedding anniversary of Sridevi and Boney Kapoor: June 2

These images from March 1997 were part of a news story that shook Bollywood and Tollywood! Iconic Indian actress Sridevi officially announcing her marriage and pregnancy with film producer Boney Kapoor - after months of speculation, it put all rumours to rest. It made news from New York to New Delhi, Chennai to China! The images went viral and wherever there was the Indian diaspora or the Bollywood-watching diaspora, there was much talk about the most famous Indian actress, and her film-producer husband. The one-off press conference they did - where Sridevi spoke very briefly and let Kapoor speak instead. Sridevi thereafter stepped away from the limelight for more than a decade. 

Manish Malhotra to direct: Sridevi's kiss from the beyond

Manish Malhotra, celebrity designer, is going the way of Tom Ford - now he plans to direct! 

Manish Malhotra started off as a male model in Mumbai in the early 90s, stylist to the stars, then designer, then mega-watt celebrity designer and really became a fashion institution, synonymous with high-wattage glamour, glitz and glitter. Now, age 54, he's going to start directing a movie. 

The news came via his 'mooh-boli-beti' Janhvi Kapoor who announced on her social media platform, with this throwback pic of Sridevi laying one on Manish on his 50th birthday. 

Too cute.

Now before you tut-tut, do remember that Tom Ford, a celebrity designer in the West - did the same years ago when he first directed A Single Man. A highly stylish movie (expected) and quite frankly a stunning piece of work, a phenomenal directorial debut.  

Ever the aesthete, we think Manish will present a film beautifully too. Now will it have gravitas or depth... we don't know yet. But one waits with breath that is baited. 

Janhvi Kapoor wrote on her Insta' stories, " Manish Malhotra, on this new journey, can't wait for the world to see all the knowledge and love you have for films and see the magic that you crate with it. It's going to be so special."

Well, we hope so. 

Best of luck Manish!! 

TBT: Sridevi's film Mom

 

TBT: This early press leak of Sridevi's film, Mom - when it was in pre produciton. 

Gorgeous Sridevi from the red carpet of IIFA. She was wearing a Oscar de la Renta gown and killing it for the fashion followers. 

Alia Bhatt with Sridevi: On stage: On Film: On Covers: Sridevi to star with Alia in Shiddat!

Alia Bhatt with Sridevi over the years. It was Alia Bhatt's birthday on March 15 (born in 1993!). She was a huge fan of  Sridevi, Sridevi was a fan of Alia's.

Images of two the star-actresses together here. Alia at age 27 is easily the best of her gen. Sridevi was the best of hers.

The two would have appeared together in Kalank had fate not so cruelly intervened. Wonder what it would have been like...

Below: The newsbyte that initially came out from Dharma Productions back in 2017 regarding their new film. The original cast of Kalank, which was then called Shiddat we believe...

The Boney Kapoor - Sridevi marriage: Scandal of the 1990s: Sridevi's biggest Bollywood controversy: 1997

Boney Kapoor and Sridevi discuss their marriage

SCREEN,
February 14, 1997

The marriage had taken place last June (June 2, 1996 to be precise) at the Saibaba Temple at Shirdi. There were no invitees but only a few witnesses. It had been a very hush-hush affair. They even had a blissful honeymoon in the US of A. And now seven months later, Sridevi is seven months pregnant and a blushing bride again.

The second marriage took place because the traditional actress had been haunted all along by the fact that their marriage hadn't been solemnised according to vedic rites. But since her parents are dead and her only sister Sreelatha has now gone to court demanding a share of the family wealth, there was no one she could confide in regarding her secret wish. So all this while she kept quiet and kept the marriage under wraps.

Then on January 22, 1997, Dr Anitha VijayKumar, Manjula Vijaykumar's daughter and a close friend of Sridevi and Boney, attended the celebrations and at the family wedding, she opened her heart to the Vijaykumars - who promised to help her. 

According to custom, the married daughter returns to her parents house in the seventh month of her pregnancy for a ceremony. Sridevi, it seems wanted not just to formalise the marriage but also the traditional ceremony to take place. A superstitious person, she felt that her baby would be affected if these rituals weren't adhered to. The Vijaykumars decided to perform the ceremonies. They even agreed to give the bride away. Incidentally, Manjula who made her debut in the MGR starrer Rikshawakaran, and now plays character roles, is the second wife of Vijaykumar. Vijaykumar was a one-time hero of Tamil films and is now a much in demand character actor. He had till recently managed to keep both his wives and their children (some of them are upcoming artists) under one roof. And though the two families separated recently, they are still good friends.

Boney Kapoor, Sridevi
and Sunita Kapoor [Anil Kapoor's wife]

The day after Vijaykumar's daughter's wedding, Boney and Sridevi got married according to vedic rites at the house of Vijaykumar's first wife. 

On Sridevi's side, there was only her father's brother and her mother's sister along with her cousin Maheswari (an upcoming heroine). The groom's guest list included his brother Anil Kapoor and his wife Sunita Kapoor [right] along with a few friends from Mumbai who had arrived the previous night and stayed at the Taj.

When the news of the wedding appeared in a Tamil morning paper, the couple who were then staying at Sridevi's CIT colony bungalow first issued a "No comments " statement. But the next day, they relented and called a press conference, in which they admitted that they have known each other for the last 15 years and that they had tied the knot in June last year. This wedding was mere formality. A beaming Boney Kapoor asserted. "I am very happy and lucky man." He refused to answer any more queries about his first wife.

Sridevi looking radiant in her maroon salwar-kameez was sporting a mangal sutra and kum kum in her maang. She flashed a smile and said, "For the first time in my life, I am really happy. I am fortunate to get a husband like Boney." For the first few years, the much-in-love couple made several attempts to hide their feelings for each other. However, the very professional actress said she has no plans of quitting films. She insisted that she would return to acting once she delivered the baby.

The Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Urmila starrer Judaai, produced by Boney Kapoor is ready and should be released later this year.

Boney and Sridevi returned to Mumbai soon after and moved into Sridevi's Green Acres apartment.

-- as published in Screen, February 14, 1997 

Boney Kapoor, Sridevi, Rajeshari and Ayappan (Sridevi's parents).
Photo from Sreelatha's (Sridevi's younger sister) wedding circa 1990

A trilogy of sequels for Mr India is in the works... Without Sridevi, we are NOT here for it.

Mr India was a surprise Bollywood box-office blockbuster released 33 years ago. A much beloved film that was the [second] biggest hit of 1987, the genre bending sci-fi-superhero-dramedy-musical entertainer was a pastiche of everything cinematic and great that gelled together to perfection on screen. The movie hasn't dated a bit and is worth watching again and again. But is it worth remaking or re-creating with sequels - without the magical original cast? 

Hmm. 

Shekhar Kapur

@shekharkapur

·

Feb 18

Worked very hard to create 3D Version for Mr India , but

@BoneyKapoor

just gave up.

A sequel to the film has been in discussion for the past 25 years (we traced back to the first article mentioned in Filmfare back in 1995) but nothing concrete has ever been finalised. We've reported on the sequel so many times over the past 20 years (since the inception of this Sridevi fan blog in fact) that we can barely feign interest now. 

A few days ago however, noted writer / director Ali Abbas Zafar tweeted that a trilogy is being planned;

ali abbas zafar

@aliabbaszafar

·

Feb 17

Excited to partner with

@ZeeStudios_

for an epic trilogy #MrIndia! It is a huge responsibility to carry forward an iconic character loved by everyone. Currently, working on the script, no actor has been locked till now. Once we lock the first draft of the script, casting begins!

Zafar's career has seen tremendous highs (Tiger Zinda Hai, Sultan) to mediocre fare (Gunday). 

Since the original release of the film, the octogenarian music director-duo Laxmikant* Pyarelal retired [*Laxmikant passed away in 1998], Amrish Puri died back in 2005, Sridevi suddenly passed away two years ago. Shekhar Kapur's career (as a film director) has been in stasis for years now [but he's been busy tweeting with alarming alacrity]. Boney Kapoor has been producing films on occasion but mostly busy raising his four children, Anil Kapoor has been defying the aging process with enviable ease. 

Shekhar Kapur

@shekharkapur

·

Feb 19

Am not miffed about announcement of #MrIndia2 , just amazed

When the discussion about a sequel came up at MAMI, it was met with tremendous applause and enthusiasm - but then, at the time, the principle cast was on stage looking like time stopped still just for them. 

A natural, trigger response, an auto-pilot reaction to looking at the gorgeous leads in nostalgic sepia tones. Anil Kapoor donning his vintage jacket, Sridevi looking ever-youthful... it was all but pandering to the excited audience.

However, with some thought going into this... milking past ideas for formulaic box-office appeal is no guarantee for success. The major ingredients that made the film so great are no longer alive or associated with what's cooking by Zafar and Zee.

Shekhar Kapur

@shekharkapur

·

Feb 18

No one has even asked me or mentioned to me about this film called Mr India 2. I can only guess that they using the title to get a big weekend. For they cannot use the characters/story without permission from the original creators of the film.

It's startling how dead horses are being flogged again and again; when sequels or remakes of iconic films have been notable flops - eg Sholay, Umrao Jaan, Karz...etc So WHY touch classics? Is there such a paucity of ideas in Indian cinema today? Are the writers bereft of new thoughts? Are there no literary tomes worth re-imagining? Chapters in history that need to be brought to the arc lights?!  

I'm sure the new team will hoist a polished product - technology is leaps and bounds ahead from what it was in the 1980s. However, the soul and spirit of the original will be sorely missing. 

She was the one: Sridevi 

From a personal perspective - of this blog esp - with the kohinoor of Indian films missing in action, they are trying to pass off cubic zirconias for gen z viewers. And it's just not going to be the same. 

Sure the idea of a re-make is making headlines today, but the original made history.













PS: An entire post on old Sridevi songs being remade with current gen and synthetic sounds is long over-due too. Its audible atrocity... but more on that at a later date.


Update: Sonam Kapoor and Anil Kapoor express their shock at learning about the news of Mr India sequels

UPDATE 2: