54 VAYATHINILE
A Star Dies After Shining Through The South And North With Steely Resolve, Resilience And Comic Timing
Neeraja.Ramesh@timesgroup.com
Sometimes, you would want to believe that the news is just not true; today is one such occasion. Nobody was willing to accept that actor Sridevi had died. Her death has left generations of fans in deep shock. It is a cruel joke, say many, and others are still reeling in disbelief. A dark day for the industry.
This is not the first time she has left the Tamil audience in deep sorrow. In fact, Sridevi saddened Tamil cinema goers twice. The first was when she, at the peak of her career in Tamil movies, left for Bollywood. Her Tamil fans, however, soon cheered as she scaled new peaks in Hindi cinema. This time she has left them forever. Decades ago, Sridevi made the big move from Kollywood to Bollywood, leaving her fans in Tamil Nadu yearning for more. In 1969, after making her debut at the age of four with the Tamil movie ‘Thunaivan’, where she played the role of a young Lord Muruga, there was no looking back. It was her resilience and resolve that made her a trailblazer in every industry that she stepped into — be it Tamil, Telugu or Hindi and set a precedent for others to follow.
It was her mother, say those in the industry, who steered her daughter into the spotlight. Rajeshwari, hailing from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, moved to Chennai when she got married, and then carved out a career for herself as a junior artist before launching her daughter. “Amma nu adagandi” (ask my mother), say film reporters, was the actor’s only refrain when asked questions.
Well, with advice from her mother, the girl from Sivakasi, made a mark with her brilliant handling of unorthodox but powerful roles in films such as the 1976 ‘Moondru Mudichu’ (where a 13-year-old Sridevi played a woman in her 20s), and the 1982 ‘Moondram Pirai’ (remade in Hindi as Sadma, where she plays woman who regresses into child-like behaviour), working with the best directors of the time — K Balachander, Bharathiraja and Balu Mahendra. She stepped into the golden period of Tamil cinema. In the mid-1980s, when the Tamil industry hit a lull, with directors seemingly running out of good scripts, Sridevi, who was by then one of the ‘superstars’ of the south, decided to risk it all and make the move to Bollywood.
It was because of her earthy and appealing looks in her role as “Malli” in the Telugu hit film ‘Padaharella Vayasu’ (1978) that critics say Bollywood took notice of the girl from the south. With the Hindi r e - make of the film, “Solva Sawan”, Sridevi made a foray into Hindi films and went on to reign there too — just as she stood her ground in the Telugu industry, where she had acted in 83 films.
Actor Khushbu, who failed to succeed in Bollywood says, “Though a number of us tried our hand in Hindi cinema, only a few could make it. But we saw her boldly migrate there despite ruling the roost in Tamil and Telugu movies. No heroine till date has her guts and sustained success.”
Fans couldn’t see Kamal Haasan or Rajinikanth acting with anybody else, so that trinity was unbroken until she made the transition to Bollywood.
Tamil film historian Theodore Baskaran says the transition was bound to happen in her case. “There was more money and a wider reach in Bollywood. Before her, we had Vyjayanthimala Bali and Padmini doing Hindi films. Her contemporaries Jayapradha and Madhavi too followed her and tasted success to some extent, but none of them could match her success,” says Baskaran. Despite the fact that she was not fluent in Hindi, she was a director’s actor and parroted the dialogues, the only difference was that it was done with style and confidence. “It is not easy to convince Bollywood, since they are a difficult lot who like their heroines to be fair and come from a ‘starry’ background, says film critic Subaguna Rajan. “Some insist she shifted to Mumbai because of personal issues. Even if that was the situation, she had luck in her favour. Actress Lakshmi even after giving a superhit movie ‘Julie’, couldn’t survive.” Sridevi, he adds, with her Dravidian face, dusky complexion and zero knowledge in Hindi became the female badshah. With 300 films to her credit.
It is a dreadful loss not just for the industry and her colleagues. For me it is a personal loss. I feel like something has been torn away from my heart. I have known her and her family since her childhood. She was an amazing dancer as well as actor, had quick reflexes and could do a wide variety of roles with ease.
Vyjayanthimala Bali
When we wrapped up the shoot for ‘16 Vayathinile’, she was crying at the film location as she had grown deeply attached to everyone. She was a sentimental person
P Bharathiraja
FILM DIRECTOR
A Star Dies After Shining Through The South And North With Steely Resolve, Resilience And Comic Timing
Neeraja.Ramesh@timesgroup.com
Sometimes, you would want to believe that the news is just not true; today is one such occasion. Nobody was willing to accept that actor Sridevi had died. Her death has left generations of fans in deep shock. It is a cruel joke, say many, and others are still reeling in disbelief. A dark day for the industry.
This is not the first time she has left the Tamil audience in deep sorrow. In fact, Sridevi saddened Tamil cinema goers twice. The first was when she, at the peak of her career in Tamil movies, left for Bollywood. Her Tamil fans, however, soon cheered as she scaled new peaks in Hindi cinema. This time she has left them forever. Decades ago, Sridevi made the big move from Kollywood to Bollywood, leaving her fans in Tamil Nadu yearning for more. In 1969, after making her debut at the age of four with the Tamil movie ‘Thunaivan’, where she played the role of a young Lord Muruga, there was no looking back. It was her resilience and resolve that made her a trailblazer in every industry that she stepped into — be it Tamil, Telugu or Hindi and set a precedent for others to follow.
It was her mother, say those in the industry, who steered her daughter into the spotlight. Rajeshwari, hailing from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, moved to Chennai when she got married, and then carved out a career for herself as a junior artist before launching her daughter. “Amma nu adagandi” (ask my mother), say film reporters, was the actor’s only refrain when asked questions.
Well, with advice from her mother, the girl from Sivakasi, made a mark with her brilliant handling of unorthodox but powerful roles in films such as the 1976 ‘Moondru Mudichu’ (where a 13-year-old Sridevi played a woman in her 20s), and the 1982 ‘Moondram Pirai’ (remade in Hindi as Sadma, where she plays woman who regresses into child-like behaviour), working with the best directors of the time — K Balachander, Bharathiraja and Balu Mahendra. She stepped into the golden period of Tamil cinema. In the mid-1980s, when the Tamil industry hit a lull, with directors seemingly running out of good scripts, Sridevi, who was by then one of the ‘superstars’ of the south, decided to risk it all and make the move to Bollywood.
It was because of her earthy and appealing looks in her role as “Malli” in the Telugu hit film ‘Padaharella Vayasu’ (1978) that critics say Bollywood took notice of the girl from the south. With the Hindi r e - make of the film, “Solva Sawan”, Sridevi made a foray into Hindi films and went on to reign there too — just as she stood her ground in the Telugu industry, where she had acted in 83 films.
Actor Khushbu, who failed to succeed in Bollywood says, “Though a number of us tried our hand in Hindi cinema, only a few could make it. But we saw her boldly migrate there despite ruling the roost in Tamil and Telugu movies. No heroine till date has her guts and sustained success.”
Fans couldn’t see Kamal Haasan or Rajinikanth acting with anybody else, so that trinity was unbroken until she made the transition to Bollywood.
Tamil film historian Theodore Baskaran says the transition was bound to happen in her case. “There was more money and a wider reach in Bollywood. Before her, we had Vyjayanthimala Bali and Padmini doing Hindi films. Her contemporaries Jayapradha and Madhavi too followed her and tasted success to some extent, but none of them could match her success,” says Baskaran. Despite the fact that she was not fluent in Hindi, she was a director’s actor and parroted the dialogues, the only difference was that it was done with style and confidence. “It is not easy to convince Bollywood, since they are a difficult lot who like their heroines to be fair and come from a ‘starry’ background, says film critic Subaguna Rajan. “Some insist she shifted to Mumbai because of personal issues. Even if that was the situation, she had luck in her favour. Actress Lakshmi even after giving a superhit movie ‘Julie’, couldn’t survive.” Sridevi, he adds, with her Dravidian face, dusky complexion and zero knowledge in Hindi became the female badshah. With 300 films to her credit.
It is a dreadful loss not just for the industry and her colleagues. For me it is a personal loss. I feel like something has been torn away from my heart. I have known her and her family since her childhood. She was an amazing dancer as well as actor, had quick reflexes and could do a wide variety of roles with ease.
Vyjayanthimala Bali
When we wrapped up the shoot for ‘16 Vayathinile’, she was crying at the film location as she had grown deeply attached to everyone. She was a sentimental person
P Bharathiraja
FILM DIRECTOR
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