Many actresses made their mark in Telugu Cinema with their grace, poise and performance. Some heroines rule the Box Office by the season or their peak time but some heroines are so timeless that they are evergreen. The diva Sridevi is one of those actresses for whom Tollywood is entirely fortunate. On the eve of her birthday today, here are some of the interesting facts about her:
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 KRaghavendra 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 Diva’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.
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