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New Delhi, August 14, 2023

‘English-Vinglish’ showcased Sridevi as a thinking, intense actress.

Pragati Saxena

On August 13, 2018, an  actress was born, who was just rediscovering herself after ruling the glamour world for almost a decade as the ‘first woman superstar of Hindi cinema’, when we lost her suddenly due to an unfortunate accident. It was only natural that an ageing actor reinvents herself in her forties. Sridevi, after playing the voluptuous female protagonist, was finally in a comfort zone where she could take on characters with many shades and depth.

‘English-Vinglish’ showcased Sridevi as a thinking, intense actress. She slipped into the shoes of a domestic submissive wife, effortlessly. It was difficult to recognize her. But there lay her success. As fluid as water she fitted into a given role.

Sridevi worked in Tamil, Telugu, Kannad and Hindi. Her Hindi debut came at a young age of nine in ‘Rani Mera Naam’ in 1972, a role that hardly registered in audiences’ mind. She appeared in a cameo in the much-talked about film on teenage pregnancy- ‘Julie’, but her portrayal of Nehalata, suffering from retrograde amnesia in ‘Sadma’ (1979), won hearts of millions.

Then there was no stopping her. A winner of seven Filmfare awards, many consecutive hits in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, Sridevi will always be remembered for her perfect comic timing, amazing dance skills and wide-eyed innocent sensuousness.

It is usually difficult, almost impossible to break the image of a ‘superstar’ and go beyond it. But Sridevi attempted it successfully. After a sabbatical from a successful career, she made a successful effort to reinvent her image on the silver screen with  ‘English Vinglish’ (2012). The scenario had significantly changed when she rejoined the industry, but for the better. She now could choose from a plethora of roles and was free to abandon her superstar image. She did it with elegance.

We could have had more of her as a versatile actress in the second phase of her acting career, but unfortunately, we lost her in 2018. Till date, we have never had an actress who could match her dancing prowess, her acting skills and her voluptuousness (Madhuru Dixit came quite close, though).

Google also paid tribute to this brilliant Indian actress with a nice doodle. Like Meena Kumari, Madhubala and Sadhana, Sridevi will always remain an actress we will always go back to whenever Indian actresses of profound talent are mentioned in the history of Indian cinema.

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