EVERGREEN SRIDEVI - A LEGEND BORN TO ACT| In Memoriam - Page 60

Sridevi the queen of the silver screen, the queen of my heart. At a time loyalty was divided between Madhuri and Sridevi fans, I stuck to Sridevi throughout even during her hiatus and of course her fantastic comeback. There was something about Sridevi that always enamoured me her expressive eyes, her mischievous smile, her powerhouse performance in every film, however trashy some might be, and her ability to hold her own and, in most cases, surpass the performances of her much fancied male co-stars.

Sridevi and Jaya Prada were the most beautiful actresses to me, but Sridevi scored over Jaya in terms of versatility. I guess starting off as a child actor and then playing roles like that of a "step mother to Rajinikanth while still in her teens gave her the maturity as a performer. She was much more than the unflattering sobriquet "thunder thighs given to her, and proved that in an industry dominated by men, a lady could be an equally potent force to reckon with. She had a seemingly quiet and unassuming demeanour off screen, but in reel life she was a livewire, and unlike some stars of today, Sridevi let her on-screen performance, and not off-screen rants, do the talking. She could play the docile exploited girl and the flamboyant extrovert with equal ease. This is why news of her death came as such a rude shock early on a Sunday morning.

Arnab Banerjee picks 10 Sridevi films based on the merit of her performance and not the movie itself. The list is in no particular order, just a salute to a fine actress and a superstar.

1. Chaalbaaz: A remake of Seeta Aur Geeta, I'd dare say it was better than the original, all due to Sridevi's stupendous performance. She outdid even the mighty Rajinikanth.

2. Sadma: Another remake, this one of the Tamil original starring the same lead pair of Sridevi and Kamal Haasan. Sadma is a poignant tragi-comic film with beautiful songs and splendid performances by all, especially the lead pair. The last scene, showing Sridevi's nonchalant indifference to Kamal's desperate antics to make her recognise him, is arguably one of the best in the history of Indian cinema.

3. Lamhe: Another double role, another powerhouse performance by Sridevi. Lamhe was ahead of its time in its bold theme of an older man uniting with a much younger woman, and for our conservative cinegoers it was too liberal an idea to swallow and the film bombed.

4. Nagina: The film that elevated Sridevi to Numero Uno among her peers. A forgettable movie otherwise, most wouldn't even remember the male lead opposite Sridevi (it was Rishi Kapoor by the way) so powerful was her performance. Sridevi's scenes with her bte noire Amrish Puri were the highlights of the movie.

5. Mr. India: The film that showcased Sridevi's brilliant comic timing and her sensuality. Her Charlie Chaplin act at the casino was absolutely spot on and her oomph was on display in the sensual "Kaate nahi katti hain number.

6. Laadla: Divya Bharati was playing the lead role in this film and most of the scenes were already picturised on her. But due to her untimely demise, Sridevi was roped in. Watch the scene where Sridevi chides Anil Kapoor in front of her factory staff. The difference in performance is palpable. Precisely why Sridevi will always be the best.

7. Guru: Yet another double role, this was probably the last film of Sridevi and Mithun Chakraborty together. Sridevi excelled as the "bad girl who undergoes a change of heart at the end. Guru is one film where Sridevi undoubtedly outperformed Mithun da.

8. Mr. Bechara: A woefully underrated film, this had a storyline similar to Sadma but with a happy ending. Neelam tried a similar act in Ek Ladka Ek Ladki but failed. Again proving Sridevi's merit over others.

9. English Vinglish: After years of hiatus, Sridevi returned with a fantastic performance in this wonderful film. Her monologue in English at the end of the film was worthy of a standing ovation.

10. Mom: A flawed film rescued by a stupendous performance from Sridevi. It is so unfortunate that this would be her last film, because Sridevi proved to everyone else with English Vinglish and Mom that she was here to stay.

Sridevi beat her biggest rival Madhuri even on a comeback.

Visuals from #Sridevi's native place in Virudhunagar's Sivakasi #TamilNadu

Waking up to the news of veteran actress Sridevi's death, on Sunday 24 February, left me shell shocked, as she was the last of the great actors who made a successful crossover from south Indian cinema to Bollywood. She was one of the few actors to have films in all the four south Indian languages Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam before migrating to Mumbai to do Bollywood films.

Sridevi ruled Bollywood in the late 1980s as the numero uno female star, before Madhuri Dixit replaced her. Though she made her Hindi debut with Bharathiraja's Solva Sawan (1978), a remake of 16 Vayathinile and later Sadma (a remake of her classic film with Kamal Haasan, Moondram Pirai) sank without a trace. However, she reworked her strategy (thanks to her mother Rajeswari ) it was films like Raghavendra Rao's Himmatwala (1983) where her "thundering thighs and pairing opposite jumping jack' Jeetendra that thrust her into stardom. The female-oriented Nagina (1986) and later Mr India (1987) made her a superstar.

However as an actress, I would always remember Sridevi for her Tamil films, especially with Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth.

Sridevi began her career as a child artiste in Thunaivan (1969) and dominated Tamil cinema for 10 years as a top heroine from K. Balachander's Moondru Mudichu in 1976 to Naan Adimai Illai in 1986. Here's some unbelievable trivia: in K Balachandar's Moondru Mudichu she played step mother to Rajinikanth in a film which had Kamal Haasan in a cameo!

Another stalwart of those days was the pathbreaker Bharathiraja, and his trendsetting off-beat film 16 Vayathinile in which Sridevi played the pivotal heroine role of Mayil, the innocent village girl. The film had Kamal Haasan playing Chappani and Rajinikanth as the villainous Parattai. It changed filmmaking in Tamil and also created two new stars Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth.

Sridevi went on to do 21 films with Kamal Haasan in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi and was also romantically linked with him. Tamil film producer and writer G Dhananjayan says, " They had terrific onscreen chemistry which audiences of that generation loved, as they looked natural and probably in love. And their success rate as a pair at the box-office was awesome. Who can forget some of the best love stories made in Tamil like 16 Vayadhiniley, Sigappu Rojakkal, Kalyana Raman, Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu, Guru, Vaazhvey Maayam and top it up with the all time great Balu Mahendra's Moonram Pirai? All these movies had great music mostly by Ilayaraja, which also created a halo around the pair.

With Rajinikanth too, Sridevi has done nearly 20 films. Her most memorable outings opposite Rajinikanth as hero in Tamil are Priya, Dharma Yudham, Johny, Pokkiri Raja and a few others. Sridevi and Rajinikanth as a romantic pair had also done half a dozen films in Hindi, when Rajinikanth was trying to find a foothold in Bollywood in early 1980s. Except for Chaalbaaz in which Sridevi played a dual role opposite Sunny Deol and Rajinikant, her other films with Rajini were all failures.

One of the major reasons for Sridevi's success in Tamil cinema was that early in her career, she was moulded by doyens like K Balachandar, Bharathiraja, Balu Mahendra, Mahendran and a few others. Sridevi was also an excellent dancer and impressed everybody with her dance movements in commercial masalafilms. She made a name for herself in Hindi cinema with some great dance movements in super hit films like Nagina, Tohfa, Mr India, Chaalbaaz and a few others.

Sridevi also understood the importance of doing commercial mass films with heroes who were much elder to her like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Chiranjeevi, which got her a huge reach in south.

It also paved her way to Bollywood as she went on to do remakes of south mass films in Hindi with hit south Indian directors. Take her early films in Hindi; they are all remakes helmed by south Indian hit directors like K Raghavendra Rao, K Bapaiah, K Viswanath, T.Rama Rao, SA Chandrasekhar, among others.

Once she started working with Shekhar Kapoor, Yash Chopra, Mukul Anand, Harmesh Malhotra, she adapted well to Bollywood and became a classy actress . The secret of her longevity at the top as a heroine was her constant reinvention and willingness to change.