Sri Devi, the legendary Indian actress has passed away, leaving behind an immense legacy of Bollywood history and talent. Born on 13 August, 1963, she made a name for herself in the by winning 5 filmfare awards and attaining the title of the highest paid actress between 1980s and 1900s. She is also known as bollywood’s first “female superstar”. She has numerous fans across the world and especially in Pakistan as well.
- Sri Devi began her film career as a child actor at the age of 4 in the film Kandhan Kuranai, a tamil film that revolved around Lord Murugan, a god in Hindu religion. The plot revolved around his birth, marriage and his acceptance of the post of the head of the army of heaven. She soon rose to fame and at the age of 13, got a lead role in Thunaivan.
2. At the age of 8, Sridevi’s performance in Poompatta in 1971 in Malayalam won her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist.
3. Sri Devi is not the actress’s real name. Her birth name is Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan. To make her name sound better on screen she used “Sree Devi” but after repeated press errors she switched to the name by which she is most popularly known.
4. Sri Devi has worked with some of the biggest names of Tamil film industry such as Kamal Haasan and Rajnikath. She has starred in films with Kamal Haasan almost 27 times and played Rajnikaht’s step mother in the film Moondu Mudichu at the age of just 13 years old.
5. Making her Bollywood debut, she starred alongside Jeetendra, in the film Himmatwala, A day before death marks the 35 anniversary of the film. The song “Naino Mai Sapna” proved to be a massive hit and allowed Sri Devi to be established as a force to reckon with and earned her the nick name “Thunder Thighs”. For this film, Filmfare magazine coined her “The Undoubtedly No. 1” on their front cover.
6. She made an impressionable following after her film “Sadma” became a cult favorite. iDiva termed it 10 Must Watch Movies That Weren’t Blockbusters’. Generations of actors have been inspired from her role in Sadma, such as her co-star Adil Hussein from the film “English Vinglish” confessed that he became a fan of Sri Devi after watching it.
7. Sri Devi’s 1986 film, Nagni, pushed her fame to stardom. She played the role of a shape shifting woman. The song “Mai Teri Dushman” made her a hugely popular name in the industry and made the film a blockbuster of the year. The song is also titled as the best snake dance by Yahoo search engine and Times Of India terming it as “10 Best Snake Films of India”.
8. Playing the role of a comedic journalist in the popular film Mr India, Sri Devi worked alongside Anil Kapoor and stole the show. She made the film immensely memorable by portraying the character of Charlie Chaplin. The film proved to be immensely popular with super hits such as the sultry “Kata Nahin Kat Te” & “Hawa Hawai” becoming the must have songs in your playlist.
9. Sri Devi stopped making films for 15 years before resuming acting in 2012 for her comeback in the critically acclaimed “English Vinglish”. The film was so popular with international audience as well that she was proclaimed “Meryl Streep” of India. the film was also selected as India’s entry for the Oscars.
10. Sri Devi marked her 300th film with Mom in 2017. Starring alongside our very Adnan Siddique, she completed a milestone that not even the Khan’s altogether could achieve in 50 years. She also released an emotional video while promoting the film, on the Pakistani artist ban in India which the people of Pakistan still appreciate and speak of.
11. Sri Devi was not just an actresses but also a fashion model and icon. In 2007, she was on the cover of High Blitz as “The Goddess Returns”, In 2011 on the cover of Marie Claire and in 2013 issue of Vogue, one of the leading fashion magazines of the world.
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