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As soon as I saw the padma Awards list yesterday,Two names got my attention from two fields I have loved and grown up watching...Rahul Sharad Dravid and Sridevi. Two common things which are very vital in the field of cinema and cricket...are obviously talent and adaptability. While Rahul was known for his adaptability to various condtions...various pitches...and even taking on the Keeper Gloves when India needed...What else screams more adaptability than sridevi...I mean you are talking about the most sucessfull child artist of Indian cinema..in four different languages...you are talking about the Queen of Indian cinema in four different languages...you are talking to women who stood toe on toe with Kamal Haasan. You are talking to the person who can get into an innocent mentally retarded Indian women's shoes as easy as she slips into Charlie Chaplin shoes. Now I am not particularly good at writing good articles or can write things which almost seems like poetry...so I will use Sridevi herself through youtube videos to make this interesting... Sridevi was destined to greatness early in her childhood through a sad incident...when a very much into the character involved 6 yr old Sridevi playing Lord Krishna was supposed to beat the then 56 yr old S V RangaRoa - a legendary Telugu artist ..who was playing Kamsa...she beat him so hard that Ranga Roa suffered an heart attack and passed away on the set. While it was a pretty inauspicious beggining to what was will end up being an incredible career ahead...the fact that a 6 yr old sridevi undestood the emotions behind Krishna and his act of beating Kamsa was proof enough how she liked the art of getting into a charater
You ask 8 yr old girl to act in a song with veteran...And look how unhibited she is in the below video...she overshadows Anjali by a fair distance
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_3J--i8vFo[/YOUTUBE]
In all this years of watching Indian cinema...Two artist who I have found are very hard to dominate are Kamal Hassan and Chiranjeevi...Kamal Hassan because of the sheer Talent he posses...and Chiranjeevi...while he was talented as well..it also due to directors inability to look past his star status(much like Rajnikanth ...Remember Chaalbaaz?? Rajnikanth Who?? says Sridevi)...and now what does Sridevi do...make the movie her own..and absolutely make us watch the movie through her character...In Sadma and Jagadeka Verudu Athiloka Sundari...
One movie with Kamal that will always stay in my mind is a movie called "Akali Rajyam"...on umemployement in 1980's...While it def was a Kamal movie...Sridevi stood her fort and gives incredible effort...it is through Sridevi's eyes we see Kamal's pain in the movie...if not for that incredible actresses...Pain..an important emotion in the movie would have been in pain for a support to come through !!!
There is this Telugu movie Called Ksnakshanam by Ram Gopal Varma...I guess it is dubbed into Hindi as "Hairan"..a road movie...I think it was one of the finest character sketched for an actress...not because it had a tragic story or it was out of world charater...but because when you look at sridevi...you look at innocent women stuck in crazy situations...and you realize that is how a person would actually react to situations like this...she carries the whole film on her shoulders...and makes it a timeless classic just through her performance...which otherwise would have been just another good movie. You got to watch the movie to see what I am talking about...
for now...Watch this incredible song...initial 35 seconds of her talking is for me one of most memorable memories of Sridevi...I just love how "normal " she is...
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic0RSSIsAlY[/YOUTUBE]
An actor for me is judged by his/her ability to do comedy...I think Sridevi by far was the best at comedy among actresses any generation considered...No more examples needed than watch Mr.India and Chaalbaaz
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o306GUXs5Xs[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cADxxzeLnQ[/YOUTUBE]
the way she carried that rowdy rani and innocent character at the same time Chaalbaaz was work of an artist...normally when Rajni is involved..it is a Rajni movie...but this was a sridevi movie!!!
You talk about the potrayel of Mentally retarded in Sadma...you can talk about her potrayel in Naagin...in Lamhe...in Chandni...the grace with which she gets into the character...even the varied characters talked about just in this paragraph !!!!
Who could have potrayed the loss of love of husband which she traded for money in Judaai...and the potrayel of the turmoil the women goes through in the end ...or even the crazed obsession with money through the money like Sridevi does...what is great about sridevi is while you want to absolute hate the character in Judaai...She portrays with such innocence rather than absolute evil to make her change in end believable...
While she is an incredible dancer among Indian dances...being a man I guess...what attracted me the most was her ability to look sensuous...ooze eroticism while just in a saree...all the while with lot of class...you really do not need to show any skin to look Sexy !
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQxrtcwW9Hw[/YOUTUBE]
I can never get past Sridevi in green saree in this song
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V69B-F707RM[/YOUTUBE]
Cannot end this out talking about English Vinglish...we have many actresses who made a comeback...many often do catch in on their images before they quit...like dance for Madhuri...but Comedy...dance or powerful performances characters were sridevi's song suits...but what does she do...plays a very normal day to day housewife with a simple story...chooses subtle yet an incredibly powerfull character..and never goes out of it...When she gives the speech ...It was done with humility yet with a sense of victory...and that is true work of an actor...how many times have we seen in bollywood hero /heroine just go out of their character and become almost somebody else in their victory. (credit to the director as well )
I know people do compare her with Madhuri in hindi...I personally feel it as an insult to Sridevi..Madhuri does not have 10% of the body of work Sri has in her career..with no disrespect to Madhuri !!!! There are very few people I really admire in Indian cinema...It is Kamal Haasan...Sridevi and Big B..incredible body of work..changing themselves through time...with different films...Sridevi is 50 now...her kids are older...as Jodie foster said...Looking forward to the next 50 yrs of amazing work from this incredible women !!!!!
I Realize I am bad writer...but it was just an attempt !!! I wish somebody good at this can some up her incredible 50 yrs of career with beautiful use of words...I have not named lot of her great works...
anyway...ending up two songs that in a away sum up her..
Kisi ki Haath naa Ayegi ae Ladki...
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-2_S3hZtj0[/YOUTUBE]
And Hawa Hawai -- for a comic genius that she is !!
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlhVQzT7spQ[/YOUTUBE]
Indian Idol 15
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