Posted on March 9, 2018
A weekly feature, where I answer a few questions on the big release of the previous weekend. (Or, an older film, if the week has no big releases.)
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Baradwaj Rangan 
nikkie1602
March 9, 2018
Hi BR…how do you find Lamhe and Sridevi’s performance in it?
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Vivek narain
March 9, 2018
What’s apparent with Sri devi is that she’s many things at the same time. She’s slender and buxom, wise and innocent, vivacious and thoughtful,, glamorous and simple. Am i missing something?
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Vidya Murugan
March 9, 2018
Khuda Gawah or Chalbaaz, which was a better double role?
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Akhilan
March 9, 2018
What are your thoughts about Rekha BR…? You talked at length about Hema Malini’s career, but what do you feel about Rekha, her range and versatility perhaps…? Like from doing an Umrao Jaan to a Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, or even a Khoon Bhari Maang… Also the span of time she managed to be at the top, quite similar to Sridevi and Hema Malini maybe…?
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Girish
March 9, 2018
#AskBR Her performance with Rajini is more crackling than Kamal. Your thoughts?
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Swati
March 10, 2018
south to North–casting couch to freedom!
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Swati
March 10, 2018
Her nose, her nose:
But was it just her nose. It was everything else too. Her boobs or fake boobs. Her weight or artificially skinny frame. Her skin color and so forth. Her nose was perfect in “nau-nau chudiya” and she should have stopped there for plastic surgery. Her surgeries just shows insecurity and psychological issues rather than the scrutiny. I think she was getting on page3 and featuring in magazines on daily basis to just keep the seat warm for Jhanvi, just as SoniaG keeps seat warm for RaGa. Nothing more. Nothing less. If he was ambitious, she would have continued to act instead of only two movies in last few years.. Her dislike for camera/acting shows that she was deeply exploited from childhood. Jodie Foster can bring a certain intelligence to her acting which Sri could never ever. Sri could only make faces at camera (really) instead of understanding and internalizing her role e.g. MOM which was really bad-bad acting.
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Shankar
March 10, 2018
#AskBR I know it is tough to answer a hypothetical question but…..Moondru Mudichu, Gayathri, 16 Vayathinile, Sigappu Rojakkal, Jhony, Varumayin Niram Sigappu, Meedum Kokila, Mondram Pirai…did we lose a performer here with her migration to Hindi, some one who would be remembered for her performances and not for being a mega star, if you know what I mean?
I don’t grudge any of the success she achieved in Hindi, but 10 blockbusters with Jeetendra don’t equate to a Jhony or Mondram Pirai, in my book. She may have become a mega star, but somehow the soul of the delicate performer within was lost to me. Not sure I’m expressing this right….
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Uma
March 10, 2018
Such a lovely episode. Thanks for doing this. Yes, agree to your point about too much pressure on heroines regarding their physical appearance. I remember an actress from Hollywood saying, “You are damned if you do it and you are damned if you don’t (in reference to plastic surgeries)”
What is sad is that my mom used to tell me back in the 80’s when I was a little girl, to go for a plastic surgery to get the shape of my nose fixed(I have a slightly big nose). Imagine back when there was no social media, only print magazines, a parent being influenced by an actress’s looks, the pressure on the girls right now to appear perfect looking at all these models/ actresses’ Instagram pages.
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Pavan
March 10, 2018
Who, according to you, was the director who looked at the actor in Sridevi in a way different from the usual in her early days of stardom. I mean, someone who did not bank on her prowess to make the scene work.
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Madan
March 10, 2018
Shankar: I was thinking about that too, but then I happened to re-watch Mr India. It is hard to also imagine Sridevi doing a Charlie Chaplin imitation (WITHOUT duetting with the hero) in Tamil films. So in essence, I agree with what BR said in the clip. Maybe the films were largely mediocre (not Mr India, imo) but they also expanded her range.
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"Original" venkatesh
March 10, 2018
@Swati: Thats it , thats what you found from such a performer. Her Nose.
Dude, that is such a sad thing to say.
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"Original" venkatesh
March 10, 2018
@BR : Thanks for doing this , a lovely episode.
You nailed it when you said “Commercial Indian Cinema Acting” . That has got to be defined as a separate genre on its own and Sridevi was clearly a performer par excellence when it came to that.
For some bizarro reason i am now scared for the other Performer Par Excellence and newly minted Politician.
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Swati
March 11, 2018
@original: It was covered in BR’s video. It wasn’t my focus. It was Sri’s and her choice. Poor or otherwise.
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"Original" venkatesh
March 11, 2018
@Swati : Hmm , no . He said we should not focus on that and i tend to agree , quite surprisingly.
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Madan
March 11, 2018
Wouldn’t call her performance in Mom bad acting but opinions may differ of course. Jodie Foster is a terrific actress, sure, but how convincing would she be in comedy? Would you cast Jodie in place of say Renee Zellweger in Chicago? Actually why do people think comic acting should be valued less? Done at its best, like say Robin Williams, it is also incredible in its own right. Jodie Foster and Sridevi are at different ends of the spectrum, not comparable really.
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e,hari
March 12, 2018
What are your thoughts on Padmini and Vyjayanthamala, There were at least 2 generations earlier, but they laid the path to Pan India popularity for next generation actress like Sridevi and they had even able to hang on longer than Sridevi as lead actress and more apt comparison than Rekha or HM, IMO.
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Archana
March 12, 2018
BR, out with your secret – how are you looking younger by the day??!!
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astha
March 12, 2018
Yesterday I decided to watch Chandni on Amazon Prime. While I loved that movie as a child, when I watched it after all this time I saw a lot of flaws in the film. Yet, Sridevi’s beauty and her innocence was everything. It is hard to look past those expressive eyes. I did not like her work in Mom but loved it in English Vinglish esp that scene on the rooftop where she says she does not need love, just a little respect. She was something else and would truly be missed.
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niranjanmb
March 12, 2018
Dear BR, I think that Mani Ratnam’s filming changed radically with Iruvar after which he shifted to a somewhat vignette-style narrative where he zooms in into specific incidents within a much larger scheme of things which is quite contrasting to his earlier style of filmmaking. Do you think that some of his latter commercial failures are due to this approach to filmmaking? For instance would Nayakan which is touted by many to be his best work have been the phenomenal success it was were it made vis-a-vis this latter filmmaking style?
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MANK
March 12, 2018
Brangan, that was a nice video. And i am glad to see you confirm a lot of my views on Sri as an actress and star.But i disagree about your take on Hema Malini, she was no way an all round performance artist in the league of Sridevi or Madhuri. I say this inspite of being a fan of Hema and whom i believe is a very underrated dramatic actress. she couldn’t lift a film merely by her performance the way sri did with Chandni or chaalbaaz or Madhuri with Beta or Raja. did anybody make it alive at the end of Dream Girl or Razia Sultan which were her star showcases. And by the end of 70’s she was relegated to being just one of the stars in those hazaar multistarrers that the industry was churning out left right and centre.look at the films she made with Yash chopra- Joshilay,Trishul and Vijay, all multistarrers driven by the male leads. Even Nastik was a special case, it started shooting in 1977 or something and took 6 years or so to make it to the screen, ditto Razia Sultan. you could see that in the same year in Andha Kanoon she was already relegated to playing an important but more of a character role.
From Himmatwala in 83 to Judaai in 97, Sri had a solid 14 years as a top heroine and most of the time the top heroine. Add to that of about 6-7 years of stardom in the south, thats about 22 years of being a top movie star in the country, nobody ever has that kind of longevity. even till the end she was the lone star in films driven by her box office power as opposed to Hema who slowly petered out.
Apart from the 50’s where Nargis , Madhubala, Meenakumari were billed ahead of their male stars and were even paid more than them- i think Nargis was the first indian actor male\female to earn a lakh of rupees for a film – and period there in the 60’s when Vyjayanthimala had some solid years of stardom, i dont think anyone had that kind of box office star power for so long and that too during the 80’s and early 90’s which was the most male centric, the worst period for a hindi film actress.. I wouldn’t hesitate calling Sri , the biggest female star that ever was.
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MANK
March 12, 2018
Madan, Jodie foster did do comedy (or at least tried to do) in Maverick with Mel Gibson. its really painful to see her struggle through a role that Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts would have Knocked off in their sleep.And its not just about comedy, its really about commercial film acting as Brangan puts it. its a method of acting that goes out and connects with an audience as opposed to say which draws the audience towards it. Sridevi,Madhuri, Meg Ryan,Peter sellers are all exponents of the former style of acting while Jodie, Shabhana , smita etc are in the latter. Brando and Deniro may be the ultimate chameleons who can turn themselves into any character, through change of voice, body language or makeup ,but neither of them can come remotely close to Peter Seller’s performance in Dr. Strangelove or as clare quilty in Lolita
What i have noticed is that the commercial actors can crossover into the artistic acting territory more easily , take Peter Sellers himself in Being there or Sri in Moondram pirai or Jhonny, as opposed to the other way around. What Sri is less capable at doing is what Shabhana does in a film like Arth, which is to construct a performance from beginning to end without any major actorly moments, without any of the big effect scenes , completely internalised, drawing the audience little by little into her performance and by the end of the film , the audience are completely caught in the web . Or for that matter a very power packed intense turn by Smita in Bhumika . she modulates her performance brilliantly as the character moves through one stage of her life to the next.It requires a certain amount of training and a certain level of intelligence – as an artist and as a person – in constructing performances like that. Sri was all heart and instincts.of course she has great instincts, but she is the kind of actress who likes to be in constant conversation with the audience, alive and communicating every moment and emotion.
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Madan
March 12, 2018
MANK: Ha, I was going to mention DeNiro’s amazing ability to do both a silly comedy like Analyse This and a very difficult role like Taxi Driver. Then there are the part comic/part serious roles like Casino. Dustin Hoffman has great range as well. Russell Crowe is maybe too controlled to do comedy, at least as well as DeNiro. Why, I just happened to watch Dirty Rotten Scoundrels the other day and Michael Caine was brilliant in it.
Yeah, I don’t think Sridevi could have done Shabana’s role in Arth. For that matter, even Smita Patil’s role in the same film, albeit more acted out, would have still been difficult. I would put Johnny in the now defunct social drama category. Those kind of films were made a lot in Tamil though, yes, the style is more well cinematic rather than the nadagam on big screen style.
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Madan
March 12, 2018
Yeah, “go out and connect with the audience”. In short, charisma. I don’t remember exactly what the movie name was, probably French Kiss, and it was an unremarkable film elevated by Meg Ryan’s terrific performance. Hugh Grant is another who could knock romcoms out of the park.
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"Original" venkatesh
March 12, 2018
+1 on Hugh Grant.
What he does is very deceptive. It doesn’t look like acting at all , he is just there.
His best performances don’t have any major “actorly” moments at all. He just exists and while existing somehow gets you to care for the character. Notting Hill and Four Weddings are fantastic examples of this.
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sanjana
March 13, 2018
Can we have a Jayalalitha segment? Are did it already happen? The star different from the much loved, much criticised politician.
Sridevi and Jayalalitha both have some similarities. But had very different lives once they reached a certain point.
Both had State funerals. Southern female stars definitely have some X factor in them. They are more than mere stars.
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sanjana
March 13, 2018
Or did it already happen?
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silverambrosia
March 13, 2018
I would say that Sridevi (in her Hindi film oeuvre) and Rekha were popular primarily because of the star charisma they exerted, but they could also turn in strong performances. Hema Malini, however, has always struck me as, at best, just an OK actress. Yes, she was very popular and had a long run at the box office but there are several films of hers where I find myself wishing that they had cast someone else e.g. I thought she was totally miscast as the brooding, reflective, world-weary star in ‘Tere Mere Sapne’. Vijayanthimala was an excellent actress and was arguably in a different league from the others mentioned, but that may just be a reflection of the different era she worked in, and the superior opportunities that came her way through which she could demonstrate her acting prowess.
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MANK
March 13, 2018
Madan, yes Sri could have done the role in Arth, but it would have been a very different performance and may not be suited for that kind of moody introspective film that Mahesh Bhatt was making. If you think about it, the character in Arth is very similar to the one Sri played in meendum kokila, where her husband gets fascinated by a movie star and starts cheating on her, except its more of a romantic comedy, so its fully in her comfort zone and she could express her growing insecurity and anger through extroverted body language. Every moment of it is great fun as Brangan points out, like that scene where she is working on the idli dosa mortar and her brother comes and tells her about Kamal’s latest indiscretion with the film actress, her change in demeanor is expressed in the way the rotating of the mortar changes.its one of the funniest moments she has ever done.
In Arth, shabhana’s transformation from this weak housewife dependent on her husband to this strong independent woman who rejects him at the end, is done so imperceptibly, you cannot point out exactly the moment the change happens , there is no big scene where the transformation happens , its just a combined effect of lot of moments, but at the end you feel the change . Sri was well suited for the Balachander style, where we have the big moments when the character undergoes transformations, like in moondru mudichu , where she has these big confrontations with Rajni preceding her change in character.
What i liked about her tamil film performances was that the dialogue delivery was much better than in the hindi films. Her thin voice was always her weakness, but in hindi it had the added baggage of a heavy accent. now that kind of accent work well with comedy, but she struggled when it comes to emotional drama.There was also a certain amount of stillness and control to her performances in tamil, which one couldn’t get to see in her hindi performances .she always used to pitch at a higher level.
And coming back to moondru mudichu, i am amazed how KB orchestrated the 3 lead performers in his film who are so different. Kamal is afully internalized actor, while Rajni is exactly the opposite, all external .Sri was somewhere in the middle, just like her character was in the film.KB was a master at unearthing the strengths of each performer and nurturing that talent
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MANK
March 13, 2018
Russell Crowe could not do comedy based on A Good year, he is just too controlled for that. Even De Niro has limitations, Analyze this was more a send up of his own tough guy gangster roles. Agree about Hugh Grant . he is very much like the other Grant , Cary who is really the ultimate do nothing actor but has a better range that Hugh. He could handle romance , comedy and drama with absolute ease
Another actor i love for his minimalism is Robert Redford, such a refined actor in the commercial space
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Madan
March 13, 2018
@MANK: True about the difference in her acting in Tamil vis a vis Hindi. Also the hangover of the theatrical OTT style of acting remained in Tamil upto the 70s so high pitched dialogue delivery didn’t sound so out of place but in Hindi there was always more emphasis on nuance (in the good films anyway. Hema Malini is a glorious counterexample.).
Re Arth, I think the whole Koi Yeh Kaise Bataye song followed by Shabana’s confrontation with Khulbushan passage is cathartic and represents a tipping point from where she decides to fight and will no longer put up with her husband’s adultery. But yeah there are no grand monologues of explosive dialogue. It is a beautifully crafted film with superb performances all round.
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Naveen
March 13, 2018
MANK, apparently Sri got her first heroine role ( malayalam ) at the age of 10.5 at the same time she starred as child artiste in Hindi. she did moondru mudichu by 13 or so. i doubt how much she could have understood being a step mom to a grown up man.
Sanjana, Rekha’s story is very similar to Jayalalitha – absence of father, and adopting a Greta Garbo ish elusiveness, living all by herself etc. the moms had a significant presence for all of these – hema, sri, rekha, jaya et al.
i think Vyanthimala stood tall amongst her peers, walking shoulder to shoulder to RK and also getting plum roles written for her like Amrapali. and she has aged most gracefully, still leading an active life and a supportive family which is not the case wit most of the other southern lady stars
as per Kutty padmini who was a senior child artiste to Sri’s early days, Sri was a very very private persion. quitely thinking about next scene than mingling with others. and she cut off most of her connection to her TFM days for the past many years
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Honest Raj
March 14, 2018
Naveen: apparently Sri got her first heroine role ( malayalam ) at the age of 10.5 at the same time she starred as child artiste in Hindi.
She was still a child star at the time of Apoorva Raagangal’s release (Julie got released around the same time). It was the Telugu film industry that first “experimented” her as a lead actress; her first film as a heroine came in 1975 with Anuraagalu (the Telugu remake of Anuraag). The same year, she played NTR’s love interest in another film. In Tamil, her first role as an adult came with a film called Dasavathaaram. Her career (as a lead actress) in Malayalam began in 1976.
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shaviswa
March 14, 2018
Sridevi claimed that she was 15 years old in 16 Vayathinilae. She was probably 18/19 by then. It was a common trend those days for heroines to reduce their age.
Heroines these days are a lot more honest regarding their age 🙂
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MANK
March 14, 2018
Naveen,Vyjayanthimala’s success had a lot to do with the those times, when the heroines were considered as much valuable at the box office (or even more) than the heroes. she emerged at the right time too, after Nargis’s retirement, and madhubala and Meena Kumari slowing down.
I liked her the best in Ganga Jamuna where she was as good as Dilip Kumar if not better. its remarkable how she mastered that northern rural dialect and body language inspite of being a south indian. The success of Sangam depended a lot on her star charisma- that film is like the ultimate in presenting the indian female movie star – even though i am not a great fan of her performance in that film which is understandable. Everybody acts like Raj kapoor in a Raj Kapoor directed film. Amrapali was made purely on the strength of her stardom , but as things happened with Razia Sultan or Roop ki rani choron ka raja, these vanity projects are never a good idea
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MANK
March 14, 2018
I think Rekha had the toughest climb to the top as far as the ‘south indian stars who made in bollywood’ are concerned. Being shunned and taunted for her weight, for her dark complexion, her poor language skills in the beginning of her career. its amazing how she clawed her way up to the top. though she never was the top heroine like Vyjayanthi, Hema or Sridevi. she created a unique niche for herself and very different image from the rest of the others being this full blooded exotic women. She kinda got typecast in that too. but it was in complete contrast to the wholesome images of Hema or Sri
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sanjana
March 14, 2018
Deepika is also from the south. Like Hema, she became mainly a bollywood heroine. So is Ash. Both of them are from Karnataka. Both are top bollywood heroines. Not to forget Waheeda, Tabu who are from Hyderabad, Telengana.
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Naveen
March 14, 2018
Sanjana, we can add Padmini too. was she very successful there? i cannot recollect more than 2 or 3 films ( mera naam joker, and one with Dilip Kumar ).
Rekha manages to main a certain level curiosity in the audience. hope there are some good movies she gets, probably KJo can create something substantial for her
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sanjana
March 14, 2018
Naveen, Padmini’s other movie with R.K. was Jis desh mein ganga behti hai which was a big hit unlike mera naam joker. Though she did around 20 hindi films, her impact was less than other southern stars.
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Anu Warrier
March 15, 2018
The thing is Rekha, Waheeda, Tabu, Aiswarya et al were really not ‘South Indian’ actresses, other than having South Indian roots.
Waheeda had a couple of dances in a Telugu movie and its Tamil remake, as well as in another couple of Tamil films before she set up camp in Bombay with C.I.D.
Padmini was definitely not a very successful heroine in Hindi. Like Saroja Devi, Ragini, Bhanumati, et al, they did a few films and were moderately successful – they could never have carried a film on their name alone.
Rekha never acted in Tamil or Telugu at all; neither did Hema. Wasn’t Hema rejected by CV Sridhar? Tabu debuted in Hindi, and continued to travel an alternate path – she is not ‘star’ material; she was always considered the heavy-weight actress like Vidya is today. (By all accounts, then, Vidya should also be considered South Indian – she’s a Palghat Iyer.)
Aiswarya did debut in Iruvar and she has gone back to do Jeans and Kandukondein Kandukondein, but she is born, bred and buttered in Bombay and is by all accounts the quintessential ‘Bollywood’ heroine. Deepika, too, though she appeared in one film down south, is essentially a Hindi film heroine.
I would consider Sridevi, Jayaprada, etc. as those who straddled different language film industries, and achieved a measure of success. Sridevi was 13 when she was acting in adult roles in Malayalam. Aalinganam, Thulavarsham, etc. not only had her in adult roles, but the films had adult themes as well. At the time of 16 Vayathinale in 1977 she was definitely around 14 or 15 – she’s 1963 born.
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sanjana
March 15, 2018
Vidya is also a Bombay girl like Ash. Vidya did television with Ekta Kapoor. While Deepika being a Bangalore girl, struggled with her hindi. Tabu and Waheeda had Hyderabad advantage with their muslim background which made their bollywood transition easy. Tabu is also related to Shabana Azmi. Padmini was some sort of rage for a brief period in bollywood because of her 2 R.K. films and also Chanda aur Bijli. Even Savitri and Jamuna did one or two hindi films. Jamuna even got best supporting actress award for Milan with Sunil Dutt and Nutan. And there is Rati Agnihotri who had northern roots. B.Saroja devi had somewhat similar looks like Vyjayantimala and her Sasural with Rajendra Kumar was a huge hit. Even Jayalalitha did one film with Dharmendra.
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sanjana
March 15, 2018
As for Rekha, she can take initiative to make one film than waiting for others to cast her.
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Madan
March 15, 2018
@ Anu Warrier: Yeah, Sridevi’s unique that way. Uprooted a roaring career in the South and followed it up with even bigger success in Bollywood.
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Naveen
March 15, 2018
@Sanjana, making a film is not a wish i would make for Rekha. let her live her cocooned life without making it a rollercoaster ride by trying to make a movie. it is not easy.
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Naveen
March 15, 2018
can we add Leena Chandavarkar, from Dharwad, to this list? not sure of her work in South though. she had some memorable movies in Hindi. a frnd of mine from Dharwad/Belgaum always used to claim her as their own
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MANK
March 15, 2018
Anu, that’s right. there are these different categories of south indian actresses. once who had a fledgling career down south, ones who are from here but did not have a career and once who are south Indian by lineage only. people do tend to club them all together.there is Meenakshi Seshadri also, who has south indian lineage but was born and brought up in the north
Madan, i dont think Sri started out like that . she was already starring in all the 4 south indian languages, so hindi was just another language for her. Her early films were made by the same group of tamil \telugu producers with whom she was doing films down south.. she was very active in telugu films upto 85\86. only when both she and the hindi film industry realized each others potential, did she make the full switch .someone like Asin did uproot herself from her roots to pursue a career in hindi when she was having such a good career down south.
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sanjana
March 15, 2018
Naveen, Leena Chandavarkar shone for a while and then married KIshore Kumar after she lost her first husband. She acted with Saira and Dilip Kumar in Bairaag. Yes, she is from Dharwad which is close to Goa.
Hema Malini, besides giving dance performances regularly, also entered television world producing and acting without any ego hassles for such a big star who was compared to Bachchan, no less. While Rekha is content with making appearances on occasions with her trademark dressing style.
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Madan
March 15, 2018
@ MANK: I agree that she didn’t necessarily intend to shut down her South career. But because she was so wildly successful in Hindi, it turned out that way. Agreed that Asin took a conscious call to switch to Bolly. Only reason I didn’t mention her is she never succeeded to the extent that she could carry films on her name alone. I don’t mean big blockbusters, even multiplex films like Dirty Picture/Kahaani/Queen. On the flipside, Hansika’s success in Tamil is baffling. She was a write off in Hindi.
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MANK
March 15, 2018
Only reason I didn’t mention her is she never succeeded to the extent that she could carry films on her name alone
Oh absolutely, but she couldnt in the south either. but she was talented and had a certain market value here . she made a mistake when she moved stock lock and barrel to Mumbai
On the flipside, Hansika’s success in Tamil is baffling. She was a write off in Hindi.
Yeah but so was Khushboo, simran , Naghma etc. now i know she isnt even their level , but hey thats how this works.she doesnt have to speak the language, doesnt even have to lipsynch properly. just being at the right place, right time
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Naveen
March 15, 2018
Aishwaya Rajesh is doing Bollywood films too. and we have Shruti haasan
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shaviswa
March 16, 2018
@Anu Warrier
“she’s 1963 born”
Yes – per official records. 🙂
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KP
March 21, 2018
“Not to forget Waheeda, Tabu who are from Hyderabad, Telengana.” She is from Tamilnadu atleast that’s what her wikipedia says.
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sanjana
March 22, 2018
KP, yes. It is a common misconception that Rehman was born in Andhra Pradesh.[12]”I was born in Chengalpattu”, she reveals, “I used to have a house in Chennai and agricultural land in the Red Hills area”. So, why the widespread belief that she was born in Hyderabad? “It’s a long story”, she says, “When I was in Chennai, I did three to four Telugu movies. In the first one, Rojulu Maraayi, I did only a folk dance number. However, it went on to become a hit! I was in Hyderabad celebrating its success and Guru Dutt happened to be there. He was on a lookout for new faces and heard that I could speak in Urdu. It is because he spotted me in Hyderabad that people assume I was born there”. From Wiki.
But she was born when India was still under British rule. At that time there was no Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh. Just like many Indians who were born in parts of Pakistan like Lahore but considered as Indians or vice versa. So Waheeda can be considered to be from the south belonging to a tamil muslim family. And Jayalalitha, MGR, Rajnikant, Karunanidhi and many others whose roots and film history have a mismatch.
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Anu Warrier
March 22, 2018
@Shaviswa, no, as per a brevet aunt who’s known the family a long time, and whose daughter shares a birthday with Sridevi. Sri has been acting a long, long time, and having watched her on screen for decades, it is easy enough to think of her as being older than she is.
Also, when she acted in Poompatta in 1971, she definitely couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8.
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Jai
March 23, 2018
@ Anu, Shaviswa,
There had been some talk even earlier, about Sridevi’s age being different than what was “officially” put forth. But as Anu said, a large part of this is probably down to the fact that Sri had been acting for years and had become a star in Tamil and Telugu films before making a breakthrough in Bollywood, and therefore probably people felt she might have been older than she really was?
See this India Today article from 1984, talking about Sridevi’s breakthrough in Bollywood, which they had recently put forth as a retrospective of sorts.
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/films/story/19840815-hindi-film-industry-battle-rages-for-no.-1-heroine-crown-sridevi-top-contender-803208-1984-08-15
Sri’s age in the article, “as per film circles”, is mentioned as 26 (instead of the 21 she “officially” would have been at the time). There was also a Filmfare article a few years back, chronicling the Greatest Heroines in Hindi cinema, which had Sri’s year of birth as 1961 instead of the currently accepted 1963. Not that it matters any which way, of course.
This aspect of leading actresses earlier being secretive about their actual year of birth, and the nudge-nudge, wink-wink whispers of them being older; is also a pointer to the gender inequity wrt age afflicting cinema of the time. Heroines in their mid to late 30’s, would be “promoted” to elder sister/ bhabhi and even mother roles, opposite the very leading men they had earlier been paired romantically with, on screen. So possibly actresses were keen to shave off a few years, to avoid being considered “old”, while the heroes old enough to be their fathers, still played characters in their 20s!
Thankfully, this “differential ageism” for heroines as opposed to heroes is receding, though we are still nowhere close to parity. Even in Sri’s obituaries, for example, amidst well deserved tributes to all her stellar accomplishments, there was a mention of how she had been paired as a leading lady opposite both Dharmendra and Sunny Deol and ANR/ Nagarjuna. (Possibly also NTR & Balakrishna?). This statistic, though put forth as a compliment to Sridevi’s career, was more a reflection of how Indian cinema allows leading men an overtly long shelf life as “heroes”, paired opposite heroines far, far younger to themselves.
There are hopeful signs, though. At least 2 of the 3 Khans (SRK and Aamir) have started (however belatedly), playing more age appropriate roles. And SRK’s romantic pairing opposite Anushka in Jab Harry met Sejal drew quite a few brickbats because (as fit as he is), SRK did look old enough to be Anushka’s father.
Who knows, in a few years, we could have SRK/Aamir/Salman/Akshay playing older brother/mentor/jeejaji roles to Anushka/ Deepika. 🙂 🙂 And then, maybe, a 25 year old actress like Anna Ranjan wouldn’t become the subject of vicious, mindless online trolling for saying that she would like to be paired opposite Dulquer Salman, and would like Mammootty (all of 66!) to play her father in a film. Apparently, Mammootty fans felt that this was an insult (despite the 41 year age gap between them, go figure).
I wouldn’t hold my breath for such things to happen, but then one can always hope, right? 🙂 🙂
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sanjana
March 23, 2018
Heroes are always evergreen. If they have to remain heroes, they have to pair up with younger leading ladies though it looks so gross. I always wonder why journalists never grill actors on this.
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Pavan
March 23, 2018
sanjana: I always wonder why journalists never grill actors on this.
Because, like SRK said in Don 2, “Dard ki parwah baadshah se zyada uski wazir ko hoti hai!”
Just let a journalist question that. The star might remain okay with it. His fans will not.
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