The first female superstar of Indian cinema Sridevi’s death has left a gaping hole in Indian cinema. Her stardom was well deserved. Sridevi was an era in herself and she has left millions of fans heartbroken. Her versatility in a series of diverse roles has been universally acknowledged and admired as it reflected the ground realities. She remained as a proud actress of India with her unparalleled acting skills. Born as Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan, Sridevi worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films before entering Hindi films. She started acting in the late 1960s, but her performance in Malayalam film Poompatta (1971) won her the state award for best child artist. I still remember her resounding success began with Jeetendra in the 1983 blockbuster Himmatwala.
There is no denying fact that Sridevi had a lot of courage and daring to reach where she is and that can teach a lot of professional lessons to many film stars in the Box office. Her most remarkable films include Sadma, Chandni, Himmatwala, ChaalBaaz, Mr India, Nagina, Mawali, Tohfa and Gumrah among others. She was a lady superstar who did the maximum number of double roles for a Bollywood heroine — seven of them. We got two of her in Guru, Naaka-Bandi, ChaalBaaz, Banjaran, Khuda Gawah, Lamhe, Gurudev and a few other shelved projects. Her return to the silver screen in the hugely successful English Vinglish in 2012 was not only her comeback film but also one in which actor Ajith shared screen space with her. Sridevi was called the first female superstar of Bollywood and has worked in over 250 films in various languages in her career spanning almost 45 years. Her last release was Mom in 2017. She had learnt never to take success or failure too seriously and lives her life happily. For her even failure of a film doesn’t bother her too much as she always believed that doing so one becomes immune to success and failure.
Her impeccable life and illustrious career has impressed every one surpassing generations. Sridevi stood out with her films; especially with Yash Chopra’s Chandini. She was a true star and a gifted actor. It’s hard to come across a celebrity like her, with no airs. She was an inspiration for millions and an institute for all actors. Her smile was more than just a smile.
She has won hearts across the country, regardless of language. Really, it’s a great loss to the world of cinema and no one can replace the great actress Sridevi. She was one of the actresses who excelled both as child actor and heroine. Whether in comedies, romantic movies or dramas, Sridevi dazzled viewers with her acting. Indian cinema has lost of one its brightest stars in Sridevi. Melody queen Mangeshkar, who lent her voice to Sridevi in memorable songs such as ‘Mere haathon mein’, ‘Morni baaga maa’, ‘Kabhi main kahoon’ and ‘Nainon mein sapna’ are the songs that are on the tip of every music lover. She was so full of life. She lit up the silver screen with her inimitable expressions. The lady superstar of Indian cinema has left the earth to reach her heavenly abode. Her sweetness, cleanness, simplicity and humanity in our film industry will never be forgettable and her contributions and achievements in Indian Film Industry will always be remembered.
She will continue to live through her works in the minds of her countless fans across the world and she will remain immortal in the hearts of billions and billions of cinema lovers.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
