{"id":50649,"date":"2018-03-10T10:02:35","date_gmt":"2018-03-10T18:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=50649"},"modified":"2018-03-10T10:03:11","modified_gmt":"2018-03-10T18:03:11","slug":"sridevi-the-diva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/sridevi-the-diva\/","title":{"rendered":"Sridevi, The Diva"},"content":{"rendered":"

File photo of Sridevi during a press conference of Karanataka Gold Festval in Bangalore, April 6, 2006. (Dibyangshu Sarkar\/AFP\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Those expressive eyes and the mischievous smile sent hearts aquiver and lit up the cinema screens, making Sridevi, Bollywood\u2019s first female superstar.<\/p>\n

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Sridevi\u2019s sudden death at the age of 54 in Dubai, Feb. 24, has left family and fans in shock and grief. This \u2018Chandni\u2019 left the world too soon.<\/p>\n

The actor, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, had gone to Dubai along with her family to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah\u2019s wedding.<\/p>\n

In an impressive career, spanning five-decades, the actor ruled the commercial cinema space in the \u201980s and \u201990s like no heroine had done before.<\/p>\n

In an industry dominated by male superstars, Sridevi reversed the trend by her sheer acting prowess. Her name, most of the times, was a guarantee enough for a film\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

An extremely shy person in real life, Sridevi came alive in front of the cameras, playing a variety of roles. Such was her popularity that her style and dance moves would be copied by her fans country over. She was \u2018Miss Hawa Hawaaii\u2019 and \u2018Chandni\u2019 for them.<\/p>\n

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File photo of Sridevi Kapoor attending the “English Vinglish” premiere during the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall, Sept. 14, 2012 in Toronto, Canada. (Jag Gundu\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sridevi started acting at the age of four and made her debut with M.A. Thirumugham\u2019s \u201cThunaivan.\u201d She continued acting in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films but it was her career in Bollywood that made her a household name in the country.<\/p>\n

She made her Bollywood debut as a child artiste in 1975 hit \u201cJulie\u201d but continued ruling the South Indian film industry where she established herself as a leading heroine with films such as \u201c16 Vayathinile,\u201d \u201cSigappu Rojakkal,\u201d \u201cMeendum Kokila,\u201d and \u201cMoondram Pirai.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Bollywood, she made her debut in 1978 as a lead actor in \u201cSolva Sawan.\u201d<\/p>\n

She gained commercial success with the 1983 film \u201cHimmatwala\u201d opposite Jeetendra, which also established her as one of the best dancers in cinema. She was grace-personified dressed as an apsara<\/i> (a celestial beauty in Hindu mythology) performing on the hit track \u2018Nainon mein sapna.\u2019<\/p>\n

The year 1983 also saw Sridevi give stellar performances in both critically acclaimed and box-office hits such as \u201cSadma,\u201d where she played the role of a woman who loses her memory.<\/p>\n

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Fans gather near a hoarding of Sridevi to pay homage, in Mumbai, Feb. 28. (Shirish Shete\/PTI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both she and actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan played the roles in the Hindi remake of their 1982 Tamil movie, \u201cMoondram Pirai.\u201d The climax of the heart-wrenching movie was deemed as poetic as the entire plot, with the song \u2018Ae zindagi gale laga le\u2019 as an ode to the philosophy of uncertainty in life.<\/p>\n

Sridevi followed it up with a number of commercial hits such as \u201cMawaali,\u201d \u201cTohfa,\u201d \u201cMasterji\u201d and \u201cNazrana.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1987 came Shekhar Kapur\u2019s \u201cMr. India,\u201d a film which was produced by her future husband Boney Kapoor.<\/p>\n

Sridevi gave a memorable performance as crime reporter Seema Sohni. She was one of the few female actors who left the audience spellbound with both her comic timing and sensuality.<\/p>\n

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Madhuri Dixit and husband Sriram Madhav Nene at Sridevi\u2019s condolence gathering in Mumbai, Feb. 28. (Mitesh Bhuvad\/PTI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How her undercover scribe transformed into \u2018Ms. Hawa Hawaaii,\u2019 thanks to her dancing skills in one of the popular songs, is one of the most memorable scenes of the film.<\/p>\n

Owing to the cult status the song went on to achieve, the Kavita Krishnamurthy number has been recreated a number of times in films such as \u201cShaitan\u201d and most recently in Vidya Balan\u2019s \u201cTumhari Sulu.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so will \u2018Kaate nahi kat-te,\u2019 an iconic sultry number which saw the actor romance an invisible man in a song reveling in a never-before-seen boldness and fantasy.<\/p>\n

Filmmaker Yash Chopra cast her in the title role of \u201cChandni\u201d in the 1989 film, another iconic film of her career. Such was her performance in the film that fans came to recognize her with the name of \u2018Chandni.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Hema Malini, along with her daughter Esha Deol, and niece Madhoo, at Sridevi\u2019s condolence gathering in Mumbai, Feb. 28. (Shirish Shete\/PTI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Impressed with her performance in the film, Chopra cast her again in \u201cLamhe\u201d in a dual role, where she played the mother and the daughter.<\/p>\n

It did not do well at the box office at that time but has come to be known one the best films of Sridevi, Chopra and Anil Kapoor\u2019s careers. The film was said to be ahead of its times as it dealt with a woman falling for an older man who is in love with her dead mother.<\/p>\n

Her other major box office hits of the era were \u201cChaalbaaz,\u201d where she played the role of twins, \u201cNagina,\u201d and \u201cKhuda Gawah\u201d opposite Amitabh Bachchan.<\/p>\n

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Jaya Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at Sridevi\u2019s condolence gathering in Mumbai, Feb. 28. (Shirish Shete\/PTI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her pairing with Anil Kapoor, her \u201cMr. India\u201d co-star and brother-in-law, was particularly successful and she would work with him again in \u201cLaadla\u201d and \u201cJudaai.\u201d<\/p>\n

After \u201cJudaai,\u201d Sridevi took a break from acting to focus on her marriage with Boney Kapoor. She had two daughters\u2014Janhvi and Khushi\u2014with Kapoor.<\/p>\n

The actor made a successful comeback to cinema 15 years later with Gauri Shinde\u2019s \u201cEnglish Vinglish,\u201d playing a housewife who learns English after feeling left out in her family.<\/p>\n

She also had a starring role in Tamil film \u201cPuli\u201d and followed \u201cEnglish Vinglish\u201d with another successful outing in \u201cMom,\u201d which also featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Akshaye Khanna.<\/p>\n

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Sidharth Malhotra and Deepika Padukone at Sridevi\u2019s condolence gathering in Mumbai, Feb. 28. (Shirish Shete\/PTI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The actor\u2019s elder daughter Janhvi is on the cusp of her own cinematic journey with \u201cDhadak,\u201d a remake of the Marathi blockbuster \u201cSairat.\u201d Unfortunately, Sridevi will not be there to witness it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File photo of Sridevi during a press conference of Karanataka Gold Festval in Bangalore, April 6, 2006. (Dibyangshu Sarkar\/AFP\/Getty Images)\u00a0 Those expressive eyes and the mischievous smile sent hearts aquiver and lit up the cinema screens, making Sridevi, Bollywood\u2019s first female superstar. Sridevi\u2019s sudden death at the age of 54 in Dubai, Feb. 24, has…<\/p>\n

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