Sridevi bids adieu

For acting and dancing legend Sridevi, her entire world revolved around her children and her family. “Being a housewife is a fulltime job. My children, my husband and my house — are all I can think about all day. Even when I am in the middle of my work, giving interviews, promoting films, I am wondering what my kids are up to. I am always assisting my daughters,” Sridevi had said during her last interview with the writer of this story. “By constantly keeping in touch with them like this, I am not turning them into a spoilt brat, but they are all dependant on me for the smallest of things, and I like helping them always,” she had said.

As a doting mother, Sridevi was always protective of her kids. Throughout the last year, the actress was mentoring elder daughter Janhvi Kapoor for her acting debut with Dhadak.

Sridevi’s double role in Chaalbaaz

Unfortunately, the dream remains unfulfilled. On Sunday early morning, millions of fans woke up to the news about the sudden demise of the celebrated actress, at the age of 54. Sridevi was in Dubai with her family and close relatives for the wedding of her nephew Mohit Marwah when she suffered a cardiac arrest. A nation mourned.

The doe-eyed diva was never nervous in front of the camera. As a child of four years of age, Sridevi made her debut with the Tamil devotional film Thunaivan. Her first Hindi language film was Julie in 1975, where she played the role of the leading lady’s younger sister. However, it was Himmatwala alongside Jeetendra that made her a favourite among her audiences.

A scene from Himmatwala

But Sunday morning was morose for many people. Subhash Ghai recalls working with Sridevi for Karma in 1985. “Sridevi was a quiet lady with a bundle of talent—it was pure magic watching her on the screen. The country can never get another star like her,” he begins. Even as Sridevi was known to be a shy, quiet person, the actress wasn’t all that to herself. “She was an introvert by nature, but the minute she was in front of the camera, she was filled with a certain electricity. She would shock directors with each shot that she gave. Be it dancing, working in a drama or a romantic film, the actress was an uncrowned queen of acting in all languages in her times,” Ghai says.

The trappings of her role never wore down the actress. Perhaps what worked best in Sridevi’s favour was the manner in which she excelled her comic timing, especially seen in ChaalBaaz, where she played the double role of a street-smart girl and a docile, shy one. With Nagina (1986), the role of a shape-shifting woman who is actually a snake in the human form, Sridevi proved that she was nothing less than her male counterparts. She displayed her apparent effortlessness again, with Lamhe, where she again portrayed double roles—that of a mother and her daughter.

With a vast body of work limited to not just the Hindi film industry but across languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Malayam and Kannada industry, Sridevi finds a fan following in millions of Indians.

Subhash Ghai remembers her fondly as someone who prioritised her family. “Boney is a dear friend and as result, I have known Sridevi closely. She was an out and out traditional housewife and a great, loving mother,” he says.

The Nightingale of the Country, Lata Mangeshkar also has fond memories to remember the actress by. “Both our families have always been very close all these years. Whenever there is a family function, Sridevi would come and make sure to visit; and not alone, she would come along with her husband. She was always warm and affectionate,” she says.

As a child artist in Aathi Parasakthi with Jayalalithaa

Taking some time to remember the work they have done together, Lata says, “Sridevi has lip-synced some of my best songs in recent years including the iconic Mere haathon mein nau nau churiya hain in Chandni and Morni baghan ma in Lamhe. Her expressions in these two dance numbers matched my voice. I used to always feel happy watching her dance to my songs. Maze ki baat yeh hai (the most interesting this is), Sridevi told me she never learnt dancing! When she was a child she just followed the dance steps that were given to her. She learnt to dance on camera. And to be so good at it!"

The veteran singer also adds that the fact that we lost a gem in Sridevi this early is unbelievable. "She was so young and beautiful - she had such a long way to go!"

Sridevi in a still from Lamhe

Rohini Hattangadi, one of Sridevi's many co-stars who worked alongside her in the very popular ChaalBaaz, laments at the ill timeliness of her demise. “It is so shocking — 54 is no age to leave the world. Fortunately, I got to work with her in three to four films, with ChaalBaaz being the most prominent one," she recalls. Sharing a memory with the actress, Rohini says, “I still remember very clearly how the director was not convinced with the makeup shot in ChaalBaaz. Eventually when Sridevi saw me struggling, she decided she would do the make up herself so what you all saw on screen it was actually done by her," she says.

Vandana Omung Kumar, who designed the late actress’ house, shares that Sridevi was very specific about her requirements for her abode. “She briefed me what she exactly wanted her house to look like. She had invested a lot of time and energy in the building of that house. She knew exactly how Janhvi and Khushi’s rooms should be designed — and gave her best to make the house their home,” she says.

Sridevi’s demise, like all stars adored by millions of people worldwide, was an unwelcome one. “She was reserved in real life, she would never gossip and roam around on sets. But the minute the director said action, you could see a different version of Sridevi altogether,” recalls Rohini, admiring in her memories the beauty and extravagance of the diva that Sridevi was.

Rajinikanth
Sridevi was my close friend for 40 years and I can’t still believe that she is no more. It’s very disturbing for me. She was a soft-spoken person behind the camera but in front of it, Sridevi was totally different. She will totally transform into the character she played. And when this girl became a big star in Bollywood surprised me a lot. It was her sheer dedication and hard work. It is a biggest loss for the Indian industry.

Kamal Haasan
I have seen Sridevi growing in each and every stage and now to think of that she is no more, I feel terrible. Even when we acted together in our first film Moondru Mudichu, she was looking like a child only. It was on instructions from my guru Balachander, I was like a pupil leader on the sets. I used to teach her dance, body movements, etc. My journey with her was long—like a portion of her life time—we acted together in 27 movies (shrugs). She became a huge star in Bollywood, but we still continued our friendship. She always wanted to improve herself in whatever she does, I see a similarity in me. Right from the early morning when I heard the news, the lullaby Kanne Kalai Maane written by late great poet Kannadasan from Moondraam Pirai is stuck in my head.She became a legendary star in Bollywood and brought laurels to Tamil Nadu. And it is her hard work and perseverance, which gave her super stardom.

-Inputs by Subhash K. Jha