Who was more popular between Madhuri and Sridevi?

Honestly I never knew Sridevi was such a huge start before coming to IF or before I started to read about Bollywood history, whereas Madhuri's stardom is something that I knew without a question. One reason could be that I was born late. I didn't even witness Madhuri's stardom first hand. I was born in the mid 90s and by the time my memory started (i.e. late nineties or after 2000), even Madhuri was out of the chart (I do remember the buzz around Kajol, and later Ash, Preity, Rani etc). However Madhuri's stardom is something I knew even without witnessing it first hand -- ask any man in previous generations who their dream girl was, they'd choose Madhuri without a heartbeat, and every girl in that generation wanted to be like her etc.

With Sridevi I never knew she was so phenomenally popular or acclaimed until I got IF. From the 90s I knew about Juhi, Karishma, Madhuri, and later Kajol, Manisha etc, but Sridevi was hardly mentioned by any of my peers. From older actresses, I did know about Rekha, Jaya, Shabana, Hema (I know they are from even older generations, but trying to make a point here) etc but didn't even know Sridevi's face properly (and most people in my age group doesn't know her very well either). Also, I think it was because Sridevi didn't work (until EV happened) that she was not talked about by the masses - whereas Jaya, Rekha, Shabana, Hema etc were working in films continuously.

So when I heard Sridevi was even more popular than MD that was really shocking to me.

So IFians, who was more popular between them, and was Sridevi really as popular as IF makes her out to be?

Being born in 1992, I also did not get the first hand experience of Sridevi's stardom BUT I did witness a bit of Madhuri mania from 1997 to 1999, as I do retain some blurry memories from this period.

Now based on what I've heard from my parents, family and elderly generation AND based on my personal research & opinion too ---> Sridevi was the bigger star, especially considering the time-period she was active.

Sridevi had this unique ability to appeal to every demographic be it young men, young women, kids or elderly... basically everyone was in awe of her magnificent screen presence. and she slowly acquired this capability to effortlessly steal the limelight from her male co-stars.

Sri also had a wider reach because she worked in South Indian films too and was equally popular in that landscape. Not to mention, she would go on to inspire many 90s actresses who were young during this time-period (Kajol, Urmila etc etc). There's a reason why she is called the "first female superstar" of Indian Cinema.

But unfortunately, Sridevi is mostly remembered as an "80s heroine", which was arguably the worst decade of Indian cinema. In addition to working in some seriously bad films, Sridevi had to compte with Jaya Prada, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Dimple, Amrita Singh and many others right from the begining of her career.

Which is where Madhuri got lucky! She rose to prominence in the 90s when BW started to change.

First of all, Madhuri relied heavily on her sex-appeal and dance in the beginning of her career, which Sridevi (who was deemed her rival) and others clearly lacked. 80s actresses like Jay Prada, Meenakshi etc gradually stopped working actively so Madhuri got to work opposite various actors like Dutt, Shroff, Sunny, Anil, Rishi etc. AND she simultaneously got to work with newcomers like SRK, Aamir, Salman etc. Whereas Sridevi was deemed "too old" to work with newcomers.

Madhuri got even luckier as she was not pitted against even newer batch of 90s actresses like Raveena, Urmila, Kajol, Karisma etc because she was "too senior" for them. Her only true contemporary in the 90s was Juhi who anyways stayed comfortable in her "bubbly" image. Only one young actress who could've given tough competition to both Sri and Madhuri in terms of stardom at that time was Divya Bharti, but she unfortunately died in 93 & her career was cut short.

Once Madhuri started doing performance-oriented roles like Anjaam/Prem Granth and once Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! happened, there was no looking back for her...whereas Sridevi's stardom started to fade by then.

With Bollywood going international and so many young directors/filmmakers coming in.. everything sort of worked in Madhuri's favor and she ended up becoming a superstar by the dawn of millennium in her own right, which is great as well. She was certainly destined to become one.

@diasingh2 - which era does Hema, Shabana, Jaya, Rekha belong to? 70s? Because I knew their names and how popular they were even though they are not from my generation either. I knew how popular Hema was, how acclaimed an actress Shabana was, what a diva Reha was etc. But I hardly even knew Sridevi's face. And of course I knew Madhuri, Juhi, Karishma's popularity. And trust me, this was the same with my peers too. I was born in 93, but most of the ppl in my age group didn't know Sridevi very well, and she was hardly talked about by anyone, but they all knew and liked Madhuri, Juhi, Karishma, and even yesteryear actresses like Jaya, Rekha, Shabana Azmi.

Hence when I found out Sridevi was such a big star it was surprising. Of course looking at her filmography I can see she indeed was every bit as big a star as Madhuri or even bigger, but I never saw it or even heard anyone talking about her as much...

Also Sridevi fans, don't take this as a hate post, I am just genuinely curious. I have only seen one film of hers, Mom, and found her phenomenal in the role.

I am also too young to know who was more popular between Madhuri and Sridevi but IF is not a good indicator of who is more popular. IF will have you thinking Sonu Nigam rules bollywood and Malaika Arora is the queen 😆

Sridevi was a pan India star.

Sridevi...she was no.1 in the three biggest film industries in India, a feat that is yet to be achieved by any other actress in the world.

Even if you compare Sridevi's Bollywood career, she still trumps Madhuri's with the kind of memorable films she's done.Top 10 films of Sridevi - Mr India, Sadma, Chandni, Chaalbaaz, Nagina, Laadla, Lamhe, Judaai, Khuda Gawah, English Vinglish. These films are enough to beat Madhuri's filmography, which is mostly peppered with commercial masala films, who I consider to be the Katrina of her times (of course but with better acting skills).

Since Madhuri is the younger star, she is more relevant to the younger generations, so it might seem like she is more popular. But it's not the case.

Also, Sridevi willingly stayed out of limelight for 15 years, whereas Madhuri was constantly everywhere, doing movies, reality TV shows, dance performances - it was difficult to escape her. So again that might seem like Madhuri is more popular, but not necessarily.

I doubt if we'd ever see a star and actor of Sridevi's calibre anytime soon.

Sridevi for me... as a child, I was barred from watching Madhuri Dixit songs on TV... Dhak dhak karane laga was the most dreaded one... I remember how we all ran for remote the moment that song came on TV!!

That has stayed with me till now 😂

Originally posted by: bollyqueen0

😲!!!!!

It was inappropriate content according to my mum 😂

Originally posted by: TheMinion

It was inappropriate content according to my mum 😂

Yeah, I'd probably feel awkward to watch this song with my parents even today 😆

Originally posted by: TheMinion

It was inappropriate content according to my mum 😂

Same with my mom. She always complained about Madhuri being vulgar. Madhuri was the male fantasy of her time like Katrina is.

As a star, I think Sridevi was much bigger. They were before my time but even now I think Sridevi still had a lot of good films. They are still watchable and quite fun. Madhuri had a pretty bad filmography. Sridevi's comeback was really good too. Both English Vinglish and Mom were great films. I wish she had lived longer. She would have shown what older actresses are capable of. Madhuri just doesn't have it IMO.