Will there be another Sridevi?

The sudden death of Sridevi has left a void in Bollywood. She was the biggest star of her generation, an actress who ruled South Indian regional cinema and managed to do the same even in Bollywood. She acted in all four southern languages, becoming a part of several superhits and managed to repeat the same success up North, even without initially speaking a word of Hindi.

During the 1980s, her mass entertainers such as Himmatwala, Nagina, Mr. India, Chaalbaaz and a few others percolated down to Hindi cinema's B and C markets and ran on her strength as a solo heroine. Sridevi also proved that she was at ease doing what Hindi film trade in the 1980s and 1990s called "class pictures such as Yash Chopra's Chandni and Lamhe. She also went on to reinvent herself in her second innings with English Vinglish, which was a sensational hit especially with the new age multiplex audiences.

Right from the early 1960s, Bollywood has welcomed South Indian actresses such as Padmini, Vyjyanthimala, Rekha, Hema Malini, Sridevi, Jayapradha and even Asin with open arms. You can add Aishwarya Rai in the list too because her first film was Mani Ratnam's Iruvar. Bangalore girl Deepika Padukone, now an international star, also debuted with the Kannada film Aishwarya.

These ladies had the essential skills to make it to the top. They danced like a dream, could portray any emotion on screen and they could also perform in roles that required the glamour factor. But those who entered the business in the 2000s, such as Asin and Trisha (she had just wone film), couldn't match the level of success of Sridevi. During this time, the profile of Hindi cinemaand audiences too changed with the coming of multiplexes.

North to South

Instead of South Indian actresses making it in Bollywood, the 90s saw the reverse happening. After having acted in a few Hindi films, many North Indian actresses moved South to act in one of the four regional languages. This includes names such as Simran, Nagma, Khushboo, Jyothika, Tamannaah Bhatia, Kajal Aggarwal and Hansika Motwani. But when some of them tried to go back and do mainstream commercial films with Bollywood heroes, they failed to take off.

Apart from this, North Indian girls, who lived in a South Indian city, such as Taapsee Pannu, Rakul Preet and Aditi Rao Hydari, have managed to find a place in fast changing Bollywood. Recently two South Indian actresses of substance Parvathy (Qarib Qarib Singlle) and Aishwarya Rajesh (Daddy) debuted in Hindi, without much fanfare.

But there will never be another Sridevi in Bollywood. Sridevi started her career as a child artist in southern cinema and the studios in Chennai were her play school, and she graduated under the tutelage of masters like K Balachandar, Bharathiraja, K Raghavendra Rao and a few others. Undoubtedly it was Sridevi's acting in commercial mass films in South cinema which honed her skills. Add to this the fact that a lot of Hindi cinema has moved to sync sound, the entry for a non-Hindi speaking South Indian actor, becomes even more difficult.

Comfortable at home

Meanwhile, those wanting to try their luck in North have also come down to a trickle. Industry veterans point out that the two of the most successful actresses in south India Nayanthara and Anushka Shetty-- have never ever worked in Hindi films. They are immensely popular with the North Indian fans through their dubbed films, but have never ventured to do straight Hindi films, though they were flooded with offers.

As noted entertainment writer Lata Jha concluded: "As of now, I find it very difficult to believe there will be anyone like Sridevi, she was the last empress who successfully migrated from South to Bollywood. Today, actors are unable to transcend language barriers and markets because they are worshipped in one market and that becomes an inseparable part of their identity. I also don't know anyone as brilliant and magical as Sridevi.