Three years have gone by since we lost Sridevi. Not a day passes when we are not reminded of her ubiquitousness…That snatch of a song from Sadma, the cute quirky clipping from Judaai, that melodramatic confrontation scene with the late Smita Patil(they must be exchanging notes in heaven) in the long-forgotten Nazrana which Raveena’s dad Ravi Tandon directed….I know of no other actor in the world who could rise so much above the script.So high she touched the sky and we gazed from down below always awestruck by her arresting artistry.
How did she do it ? The great Kamal Haasan once told me it was the art of mimicry. “She’s a fantastic observer.Whenever she is working with me she keeps observing and absorbing and then she uses the quirks and punctuations from my performance to create her own grammar.”
Nobody knows what Sridevi’s secret formula for her onscreen performances were. But whatever it was, it was magic.She could take the silliest of scenes in the worst T Rama Rao/K Bappaiah directorials starring the one(and only) Jeetendra and she could breathe life into a carcass of a script.Or make the most obnoxious dance steps look graceful.
Recalling her magic Jeetendra told me. “There will never be another like her. Interestingly Rekha was instrumental in facilitating Sridevi’s stardom in Hindi cinema. I worked in 18 films with Sridevi and 30 films with Rekha. Rekha was the first choice for Himmatwala , the film that catapulted Sridevi to stardom. But Rekha was committed to another project.That’s when we decided to launch a new girl. And the rest is history. Aise ittefaq aksar hote hain hamare industry mein(such coincidences often occur in this film industry). Rajesh Khanna and I were college friends and we entered the film industry together. I was supposed to do the film Raaz. But when I couldn’t do it due to date issues I sent the producer G P Sippy to Rajesh Khanna. The rest is, again, history.”
Himmatwala was not Sridevi’s Hindi debut. Earlier in 1989 she was launched with some fanfare in Solva Savan a horribly botched-up remake of Bharathiraja’s Tamil film 16 Vayathinile,with Amol Palekar doing a terrible impersonation of Kamal Haasan. Understandably it flopped. If it wasn’t Jeetendra and director K Raghvendra Roo in Himmatwala her career would have sunk without a trace.
This brings me to the Boney factor in Sridevi’s life and career. It was Boney who carved out her career in Hindi cinema.She looked towards her husband for guidance in both her real life and her career.But it wasn’t as if she didn’t have a mind of her own. This impression of the helpless wife was created by a section of the Mumbai press , probably because they couldn’t imagine a woman so beautiful and talented being so intelligent.Chal jhoothi!
In my conversations with her I always found her to be sharp and certain, though quiet and shy. The first time I had spoken to her there was no cellphone. I had called Boney in Goa on the landline at his hotel.When I was connected to his room I heard the familiar tinny voice say “Hello?”
I froze. My throat went dry.
Finally I mumbled, “Is that who I think it is?
She laughed her ‘Sridevi’ laughter(girlish, unspoilt, pure laughter) and didn’t pretend to not follow my fan fawning. “Yes, this is Sridevi. How can I help you? Boney is not in the room right now. Can I take a message?”
What struck me back then was her lack of affectation.Peel away the glamour, strip away the aura and Sridevi was just another devoted wife and mother .She would be shooting for English Vinglish or Mom and would worry about whether her daughters Jahnvi and Khushi were home on time and if Boney was eating right.
I feared Boney would go the Shashi Kapoor way after his wife’s death. But so far Boney has not eaten himself to death. I don’t think he has come to terms with her loss as yet. None of us has.Wonder what life would we like when we realize she will never come back.