Here Is Why English Vinglish Is The Perfect Film to Remember Sridevi By

Anybody who is even familiar with the term Bollywood is probably aware of the phenomenon that was Sridevi.

Starting her career at the age of 4 and having a career that spanned about 60 years before she breathed her last this year in February, there isn’t an accolade or an aspect of stardom that she has not earned. Whether it is being the highest paid actor including the male actors of the industry when wage gap wasn’t even a discussion or delivering a string of blockbusters, Sridevi has been the undisputed queen of Bollywood for as long as she lived.

It is almost impossible to single out one film of Sridevi, but her comeback film English Vinglish might just be the most popular contender.

Even though most millennials have seen all the classics of Sridevi that is there, but the fact that English Vinglish happened in Bollywood during ‘our time’ gives us immense pleasure. Not that we had any doubts about her capabilities, but in our imagination and the stories of the yore knitted by our parents who are all devotees of her, she was always the biggest star. However, as Shashi Godbole in English Vinglish Sridevi, the star faded into oblivion and we saw the terrific actress that she was.

Throughout her career, Sridevi has done larger than life roles of a diva or super complex characters, but English Vinglish was one role that was so incredibly relatable. Every Indian woman, irrespective of her English speaking skills, could relate to Shashi and that feeling of being taken for granted by their own families.

There is no dearth of superhit and blockbuster films of Sridevi and there is no shortage of actresses making a successful comeback either, but there aren’t too many who can claim what Sridevi could. There aren’t too many actresses in Bollywood who can claim to lead a woman-oriented drama at the age of 48 and make it into such a massive success with no other known name in the film. But even after coming back to the screen after a hiatus of about 8 years, Sridevi proved that she will be the queen of Bollywood no matter what the decade is.

The simplicity with which this film dealt with the subject, mundane truths of life and the stardom of someone as larger than life as Sridevi make it one film that we would like to remember Sridevi by.