The thaw has happened. Sridevi and Jaya Prada have made up, thanks to politician and mediator Amar Singh.
For those came in late, Jaya Prada and Sridevi both reigned in Bollywood at around the same time and were rivals. That status quo remained constant 25 years. When they worked together in Tohfa and Maqsad in 1984, not a word was spoken between the two on the sets.
During Maqsad, leading men Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra locked the two ladies together in one make-up room. When the door was opened an hour later, they were sitting in different corners, staring in opposite directions. Over two-odd decades, they didn't share screen space and or acknowledge each other's presence in public.
That was, until this Monday evening. Says an eyewitness, "Both actresses walked into Amar Singh's party within 15 minutes of one another. Sridevi with husband Boney Kapoor and Jaya Prada with the host (and her political mentor) himself. To everyone's shock, they shared the same table. Within minutes, the two ladies smiled at one another and were talking. The 25-year-old cold war was over."
According to producer Sheetal Talwar in whose pub the cold war ended, the Sri-Jaya reunion was on the cards for a while. "Amar Singh, who is very close to the Kapoors and to Jaya Prada must have been instrumental in the rapprochement. To see them chatting together was a sight for sore eyes."