THE END OF AN ERA :

SRIDEVI.

Good evening friends,

This is a tribute to one of my favorite actresses of Bollywood, who, unfortunately is no more. I actually hero worshipped her. When I was six, I used to watch her dance and tried to copy her steps. I was so crazy that I would go through any film magazine just to look at her pretty face. Now I am not much of a movie buff and I don’t have any favorite as such after an era dominated by Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla and Kajol.

Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan , popularly, called Sridevi, was born on 13th August, 1963 at Meenampatti village[18] near Sivakasi of present-day Tamil Nadu, India. Her mother tongue was Telugu but she could also speak Tamil fluently. She has been and will always be one of my most favorite actresses, besides the gorgeous diva, Madhuri Dixit.

She began acting at the tender age of 4 with her debut in Kandhan Karunai in 1967, where she played the role of Lord Murugan, followed by another movie, Thunaivan, playing the same character of Lord Murugan. Her first Telugu film as a child artist was Maa Nanna Nirdoshi in 1970, while Malayalam movie featuring her for in Poompatta (1971) got her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist. Not many know that Sridevi made her entry into Bollywood as a child artist with the film Rani Mera Naam in 1972, followed by the blockbuster Julie in 1975. She starred opposite Kamal Hassan in nearly 27 films including, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi, while The Tamil Superstar Rajnikant acted with her in 17 movies.

As a heroine, she made her debut with Solva Saawan opposite Amol Palekar in 1979. Her first commercial hit was Himmatwala opposite Jeetendra in 1983. This was followed by a string of hits including Mawaali (1983), Justice Chaudhury (1983), Tohfa (1984), Naya Kadam (1984), Maqsad (1984), Masterji (1985), Karma (1986), Nazrana (1987), Watan Ke Rakhwale (1987), Mr. India (1987), Waqt Ki Awaz (1988) and Chandni (1989) . Besides, some of her most memorable performances include: Sadma (1983), Nagina (1986), ChaalBaaz (1989) Lamhe (1991), Khuda Gawah (1992), Gumrah (1993), Laadla (1994), and Judaai (1997). She married film producer Boney Kapoor and took a hiatus from Hindi Cinema to raise her daughters, Jhanvi and Khushi. Her comeback film English Vinglish in 2012 directed by Gauri Shinde was highly successful and her last film was Mom in 2017, for which she received National Award posthumously. She was so versatile that she could do any kind of role and truly regarded as the “First Female Superstar” of Indian cinema.

Her awards include :

Filmfare Awards

Best Actress

( Chaalbaaz) ( 1989)

( Lamhe) (1991).

National Award

Mom (2018) ( posthumously).

Besides, she has won numerous awards like the Nandi Award, the Tamil Nadu State Film Award, the Kerala State Film Award, four Filmfare Awards, including a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and three Filmfare Awards South. I can never forget her Charlie Chaplin act in the blockbuster ‘ Mr. India,’ the movie which catapulted her to superstardom. Her career spanned over 50 years in the film industry with 300 films to her credit. It’s said that as a person, she was shy and an introvert but once she faced camera, she set the screen on fire. She’s said to have turned down a movie with Superstar Amitabh Bacchan , because her role wasn’t meaty enough.

She was honored with Padmashri in 2013.Unfortunately, Bollywood lost one of its most charismatic Queen Bees, Sridevi, on February 24, 2018 at Dubai. Her death was caused due to accidental drowning. She was given full state honors during her cremation. Physically, she may not be here but I love watching her come alive on TV when her movie is aired. This is one of my all time favorite song of hers. Do watch and enjoy.

The lead actors of this movie, Chandni, Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, and Sridevi, and the female playback singer, Lata Mangeshkar have all passed away and moved on to the next world. This is a very special song for me.

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