{"id":57758,"date":"2018-10-27T16:38:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-27T23:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=57758"},"modified":"2018-10-27T16:38:48","modified_gmt":"2018-10-27T23:38:48","slug":"when-sridevi-called-success-of-himmatwala-her-bad-luck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/when-sridevi-called-success-of-himmatwala-her-bad-luck\/","title":{"rendered":"When Sridevi Called Success of \u2018Himmatwala\u2019 Her \u2018Bad Luck\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

File photo of Sridevi.\u00a0(Dibyangshu Sarkar\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n

The 1980s smashing hit \u201cHimmatwala\u201d might have turned Sridevi into an overnight star in Bollywood, but according to a new book, the actor considered the film a \u201cbad luck\u201d for her.<\/p>\n

Quoting a 1987 interview of the yesteryear actor, the book titled \u201cSridevi: Queen of Hearts,\u201d said that she was not entirely pleased that her first big hit in Hindi cinema was \u201cHimmatwala\u201d (1983).<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Tamil films, they love to see me act naturally. But in Hindi films they want a lot of glamor, richness and masala<\/em>. My bad luck was that my first big hit in Hindi films turned out to be a commercial one (\u2018Himmatwala\u2019).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I did a character role in \u2018Sadma,\u2019 the picture flopped. So people started casting me only for glamor roles. But one day I\u2019m going to prove to everyone that I can act also,\u201d said the actor, as quoted in the book.<\/p>\n

Sridevi, as written by journalist-author Lalita Iyer, soon with her widely-acclaimed cult classic \u201cMr. India\u201d (1987), proved her versatility as a \u201cpan-Indian\u201d actor.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sridevi Kapoor attends 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

\u201c\u2019Mr India\u2019 was the year\u2019s best film and a riot at box office; it had something for everyone and was one of her most lovable performances. Sridevi had finally proved to Hindi cinema that she was more than just a box office draw,\u201d Iyer writes in the book.<\/p>\n

The author, who is an unabashed Sridevi fan, calls her the \u201cHero No 1\u201d of the \u201880s, a period when, as per her, the Hindi film industry was going through a low phase and there was no real \u201ccontender for the No 1 hero position, even less so for a heroine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were tired of Amitabh Bachchan\u2019s angry young man persona and his films were not doing well… The angry man and his stunt-based films had largely killed music. Sridevi couldn\u2019t have chosen a better moment to enter Hindi films,\u201d claimed the author.<\/p>\n

Though the book, which in Iyer\u2019s own admission is not a tell-all tale but a tribute to the actor, does mentions her struggle, be it \u201cbody shaming\u201d or \u201cbeing ridiculed\u201d during the dubbing of the film, as she was not fluent in most of the languages.<\/p>\n

According to the author, Sridevi\u2019s language barrier led to a certain guardedness or aloofness on sets, which people construed as arrogance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll through the 1980s, when her career was an all-time high, she was a fortress that journalists could not breach. She spoke very little and mostly answered in mono-syllables.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe media was not very kind to her. They called her \u2018thunder thighs\u2019 and ask Mummy\u2019 because most of her answers were either ask Mummy\u2019 or yes\u2019 or no,\u201d reads the book.<\/p>\n

Ironically, it was after the biggest blockbuster of 1983 \u201cHimmatwala\u201d only that earned Sridevi the moniker of thunder thighs, thanks to her whip-cracking scenes in leather leotards, Iyer writes.<\/p>\n

However, like the author notes, it was \u201cHimmatwala\u201d only that got her a dozen more films at the price she commanded.<\/p>\n

Published by Westland, \u2018Sridevi: Queen of Hearts\u2019 foreword is written by Adil Hussain, who played the actor\u2019s husband in the 2012 superhit family comedy-drama \u2018English Vinglish.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File photo of Sridevi.\u00a0(Dibyangshu Sarkar\/AFP\/Getty Images) The 1980s smashing hit \u201cHimmatwala\u201d might have turned Sridevi into an overnight star in Bollywood, but according to a new book, the actor considered the film a \u201cbad luck\u201d for her. Quoting a 1987 interview of the yesteryear actor, the book titled \u201cSridevi: Queen of Hearts,\u201d said that she…<\/p>\n

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