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Popularly Known As

Sridevi

(1963 )

Birth NameSridevi
Date of birth Aug 13th, 1963
Birth Place Sivakasi, Tamilnadu
Occupation Heroine

"Sridevi is one such unique actresses who got her dream fulfilled with so many fans � who don't admire her just for the looks but also for her incredible talent and persona."

Did You
know

Sridevi became a trendsetter as far as dressing and fashion is concerned. Her look wearing salwars in Chandini got the dress so popular in the streets of Chandni Chowk- a famous shopping area in Delhi.

Overview

Telugu Cinema is rock steady not only because of powerful heroes and character actors but also because of well grounded female leads as well. The job of a female is lead is tougher because she should be able to perform a plethora of roles ranging from glamour, sentiment, sympathy and should be ever-graceful and energetic all the time. Most importantly, the female lead should complement the male lead so well and balance the film and take it forward with grace and poise. One such amazing actress who graced Telugu Cinema with her charm, grace, talent, and tremendous performance skills is none other than Sridevi Kapoor. Hailing from Tamil Nadu by birth, she amazed the Telugu Audience for nearly two decades with her enormous charm and won millions of hearts with her mere presence in her films.

Personal Life:

Sridevi was born on 13th August 1963 to the couple Ayyappan and Rajeshwari in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. Her father was a Tamil native while her mother hailed from Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh. Her mother was quite instrumental in making Sridevi get into films at an early age. Sridevi has a sister and two step brothers.

She later married Bollywood Producer Boney Kapoor, brother of Anil Kapoor in 1996. The couple has two daughters Jhanvi and Kushi.

Career:

Sridevi’s career began at quite an early age as a child artist in Tamil Cinema. Her first role was of Muruga in a Tamil movie Thunaivan at a tender age of four. When Sridevi was dreaming about the hassle free childhood, she had to act in so many films and eventually making her work hard for her gigantic career which was waiting in the future. Right from her first appearance in films, she was acting in many Tamil and Telugu films simultaneously. In this way, Sridevi grew up at a showbiz environment and her acting skills grew phenomenally with her age. Her prominent Telugu films as a child artist are Badi Panthulu, Bala Bharatham, Bhaktha Tukaram and Yashodha Krishna.

It was legendary director K.Balachander who made Sridevi act in the female lead opposite Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan in Moondru Mudicchu (1976). She was just 13 when she acted in this film and the role had complex shades to perform. The film incidentally is based on K.Vishwanath’s hit O Seetha Kadha (1974) . Sridevi performed brilliantly in this which fetched her many more opportunities in Tamil Cinema opposite big heroes of that time.

However, it was Padaharella Vayasu which was directed by K.Raghavendra Rao in 1978 which made Sridevi recognized as a big time heroine in Telugu Cinema. She acted in the Tamil original version of it- Padinaaru Vayathinile which was directed by Bharatiraja. This was one film which brought earned her the glamour name with the song Sirimalle Poova- which became an all time classic. Sridevi started getting big offers such as acting opposite Sr.NTR from then. When Sr. NTR was apprehensive about acting opposite Sridevi, as he acted with her when she was a child artist , her thorough professionalism changed his opinion on her. Sr.NTR- Sridevi combination rocked the Commercial Telugu Cinema of the late 70s with films like Vetagadu, Kondaveeti Simham, Justice Chowdary. The so called “Steps” era with songs began more prominent with this combination and most of their films which graced the Telugu Cinema were highly successful. Sridevi was the first choice of female lead right from then, which made her cast opposite ANR, another star of Telugu Cinema in Premabhishekam. Sridevi was regarded as one of the prominent female leads in Telugu then, along with Jayasudha, Sarada, Jayaprada in equal regard.

Sridevi was cast opposite the most handsome actor of the 70s, Sobhan Babu as well during late 70s. Her films with Sobhan Babu such as Karthika Deepam, Devatha were great hits. She continued her marathon of films in Telugu very successfully, along with acting with stalwarts such as Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan in Tamil Cinema. In the midst of Commercial films equipped with glamour, she surprised the audience with films like Vasantha Kokila (Moonram Pirai) in early 80s where she played a role of a mentally challenged girl. Incidentally, it was remade in Hindi as Sadma which earned attention in the national arena as well. Sridevi graced the Hindi Cinema as well with hits like Himmatwala, opposite Jitendra.

Sridevi never looked back since then. The 80s era is perhaps one of the pinnacle points of Sridevi’s film career. She acted in Nagina as the snake’s personification and her performance along with Amrish Puri the black magic performer earned her high praises. The Snake dance song in particular made Sridevi so popular that she got a flock of opportunities which followed next. The national media along with the critics were amazed by her grace and talent and many magazines featured her on the cover during those days. The next was Mr.India directed by Shekhar Kapoor opposite Anil Kapoor. The movie was a tremendous hit and the song Hawa Hawai rocked the Bollywood of the 80s. Her next iconic films in Hindi were Chaalbaaz, Chandni, Lamhe, Khuda Gawaa and so on. All these films earned her the title glamour queen of Bollywood and she became a role model for youth along with being a heart throb for many youngsters of that age.

Sridevi never forgot Tollywood even after gracing the national arena as she was constantly appearing as the female lead opposite the next generation Tollywood heroes of the 80s such as Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh etc., Her performance as the divine princess Indraja , the daughter of Lord Indra in Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari is termed as one of the greatest Hits in Telugu Cinema. Andhra Pradesh was mesmerized by Sridevi’s beauty in this film, where her performance as the princess from divine lands was amazingly believable. She even acted with Venkatesh in Ram Gopal Varma’s Kshana Kshanam with earned her high critical acclaim during the early 90s. S.P.Parasuram opposite Chiranjeevi was her last film in Telugu in mid 90s.

Any actress would dream of being remembered not only for the glamour quotient but also her overall personality. It is like an ultimate dream to act in a variety of roles at ease, with most natural and believable histrionics. Sridevi is one such unique actresses who got her dream fulfilled with so many fans – who don’t admire her just for the looks but also for her incredible talent and persona.

After getting married to Boney Kapoor in 1996, Sridevi chose to take a break in Film acting career. Though she appeared in a Television series Malini Iyer, she took time to lay back and venture into Production instead. Sridevi fans had to wait for her big comeback nearly 15 years later in 2012 film English Vinglish. Her acting earned high praise and people started believing that talent and inner beauty is what makes her more admirable!

Interesting Facts:

Sridevi as a person is almost like a child at heart. Despite her showbiz environment and tremendous stardom, she manages to keep herself oblivious to all the irrelevant happenings around her and keeps herself perfectly intact.
She was the sole income earner in her family. She financially supported her mother, stepfather, sister and stepbrothers.
Sridevi starred in about 230 films in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi films in her gigantic career span
Sridevi had a tough childhood as an actress, on one occasion when she was going for a studio for filming, she happened to see a vendor selling ice-cream for kids. When she asked her mother whether she also can have it, her mom used to stop her from having because she might gain weight as a result of it! This one incident gives us an idea about the tremendous hard working life she had, and showbiz world isn’t as flossy as it appears from outside!
Her first meeting with director K.Raghavendra Rao happened in interesting circumstances. While K.Ragahvendra Rao was working for a film as an assistant director, Sridevi was injured while she was filming a scene where she needed to cross the road. It was him who carried her all the way to the hospital and found out that the injuries were minor. Few years later, it was K.Raghavendra Rao who made her star in Tollywood with Padaharella Vayasu and in Hindi with Himmatwala!
Sridevi always felt that her roles down the South India were more challenging and exciting compared to her films in Hindi.
Her Critically acclaimed Hindi Film Sadma is included in iDiva’s list of 10 Must watch films That weren’t blockbusters.
Sridevi-Kamal Hassan pair was commercially as well as critically acclaimed. Infact, the pair has been featured in 2012 CNN-IBN’s list of Greatest Romantic Couples on the celluloid.
About herself in Sridevi’s own words:”Believe it or not, I don't have an ego. That is one of the first lessons I learnt when I entered this line. Everything here is so uncertain. One moment you are a goddess and the next moment you are out of work. And under the circumstances the ego is hardly any help. I don't believe in it and I think every actor or actress should learnt to crush their ego even before they learn to act. But here the equation is very strange, so many people who don't know to act also have an ego. “
Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor is a huge fan of Sridevi right from her childhood days. The young Kareena used to dance for the song Hawa Hawai and dreamed of being Sridevi the star when she would grow up!
Unlike her vibrant and effervescent image as an actress, Sridevi is quite reserved and coy off the screen. It is incredible to see how she transforms so differently when camera is turned On!
Sridevi and veteran actress Jayaprada had a rivalry when they were in peak during the 80s. But both are so professional in their work, that the rivalry never appeared on screen where they shared the screen presence. The short-lived hostility dissolved later and now they are in perfect talking terms!
Sridevi became a trendsetter as far as dressing and fashion is concerned. Her look wearing salwars in Chandini got the dress so popular in the streets of Chandni Chowk- a famous shopping area in Delhi.
Director Ram Gopal Varma expressed many times in the media and his books as well as blogs that he is crazily in love with Sridevi and the enormous glamour quotient she induced during 70s made him venture into Cinema. He even confessed that he wrote the story of Kshana Kshanam having Sridevi in mind. When he observed her on the sets, his respect for Sridevi grew thousand fold for her reserved and dignified nature. He even said that though Sridevi is warm and friendly with everyone during the filming, she has an invisible limit which she keeps every person away from it!
Mr.India was one of the highest grossing hits for the year of its release.
Sridevi was offered a role in Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg. She refused because it wasn't a starring role and it would have meant taking a hiatus from Bollywood, at a time, when she was at the peak of her career.
Neeta Lulla- one of the top costume designers of Bollywood designed costumes exclusively for Sridevi for Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari. That explains the stunning looks Sridevi had in the film, with multiple costumes and graceful appearance!
Sridevi also ventured out to singing in her own films like Vasantha Kokila (Moonrum Pirai), Chandini Title song, and Ko ante Koti (Kshana Kshanam).
Many people would not know that Sridevi loves painting off the screen. During her break in film career, she was happy to focus on her skill and she also exhibited her works in Mumbai Art Gallery.

Acting Style:

Sridevi has made a unique mark as far as acting style is concerned. Her histrionics are peculiar, with a distinct voice. She never over does even a crucial scene with her acting, but does it in limits. Her school of acting can range from restraining to fiery aggression depending on what the role demands. She is an incredible dancer, with great facial expressions and unbelievable grace. She carries whatever costume she wears with unmistakable poise and earthliness. Whatever film she appears in, irrespective of the duration of the role , Sridevi succeeds in making her own mark , in the midst of male leads.