RIP Sridevi: A Look Back at the Life & Times of ‘Miss Hawa Hawai’
In an industry dominated by male superstars, Sridevi reversed the trend with her sheer acting prowess.
Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj & Sandeep Suman
Bollywood’s one of the most loved and admired actor, Sridevi's sudden demise at the age of 54 in Dubai on 25 February, has left family and fans in shock and grief. This 'Chandni' left the world too soon.
The actor, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, died late Saturday night reportedly due to cardiac arrest in Dubai, where she had gone along with her family to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding.
In an impressive career, spanning five-decades, the actor ruled the commercial cinema space in the '80s and '90s like no heroine had done before.
In an industry dominated by male superstars, Sridevi reversed the trend with her sheer acting prowess. Her name, most of the times, was guarantee enough for a film's success.
Sridevi started acting at the age of four and made her debut with MA Thirumugham's Thunaivan. 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.
She made her Bollywood debut as a child artiste in 1975 hit Julie but continued ruling the South Indian film industry where she established herself as a leading heroine with films such as 16 Vayathinile, Sigappu Rojakkal, Meendum Kokila and Moondram Pirai.
In Bollywood, she made her debut as a lead actor in 1978 with Solva Sawan.
The climax of the heart-wrenching 1982 Tamil movie, Moondram Pirai, was deemed as poetic as the entire plot, with the song Ae zindagi gale laga le as an ode to the philosophy of uncertainty in life.
Sridevi followed it up with a number of commercial hits such as Mawaali, Tohfa, Masterji and Nazrana.
In 1987 came Shekhar Kapur's Mr India, a film which was produced by her future husband Boney Kapoor.
Filmmaker Yash Chopra cast her in the title role of Chandni in the 1989 film, another iconic film of her career.
Impressed with her performance in the film, Chopra cast her again in Lamhe in a dual role, where she played the mother and the daughter. Even though the movie did not do well at the box office at that time it has come to be known as one of the best films of Sridevi, Chopra and Anil Kapoor's careers.
Her other major box office hits of the era were Chaalbaaz, where she played the role of twins, Nagina, and Khuda Gawah",opposite Amitabh Bachchan.
After Judaai, Sridevi took a break from acting to focus on her marriage with Boney Kapoor. She had two daughters – Janhvi and Khushi – with Kapoor.
In 2013, Sridevi was awarded the Padma Shri, the 4th highest civilian award.
The actor made a successful comeback to cinema 15 years later with Gauri Shinde's English Vinglish, playing a housewife who learns English after feeling left out in her family.
The actor's elder daughter Janhvi is on the cusp of her own cinematic journey with Dhadak, a remake of the Marathi blockbuster Sairat. Unfortunately, Sridevi will not be there to witness it.
Text: PTI
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