RIP Sridevi: Gone Too Soon, Bollywood’s Chandni Now Joins The Galaxy Of Stars In Heaven!

Amitabh Bachchan ’s last tweet is unfathomable and spine chilling at the same time. At 1:15 am on February 25, 2018, Mr Bachchan tweeted : “न जाने क्यूँ , एक अजीब सी घबराहट हो रही है  !!” May be it was his intuition or he was one of the first few people to be notified about Sridevi ’s demise. 

By 2:30 am phones started ringing, messages started pouring in and social media went into a shock, praying that the news of passing away of India’s first female Superstar - Sridevi Boney Kapoor was untrue. 

300 films 50 years of professional career

Millennials who've only witnessed Sridevi’s charm in English Vinglish and Mom might not know that Sridevi began her acting career at the age of 4. She’s one of the only actresses to have had a stupendously legendary filmy career of 300 films and 50 years in the Indian film industry. For those who’re still unaware of her aura must watch this clip from Mr. India where she nails in beautifully orchestrated chaotic scene embodying Charlie Chaplin, showing her stellar acting abilities to the world. 

Sridevi didn’t know or speak a word of Hindi when she made her Bollywood debut. She’s perhaps the only actress who worked with superstars like Rajinikanth , Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra and the Khans. She saw unprecedented success, fame and respect in all languages she worked in. 

The Shy Sridevi

Quite unlike her contemporaries and other Bollywood celebs, Sridevi was known to be an extremely shy and reserved person. She avoided interviews on purpose, even though she went on to do stunning photoshoots for international magazines like Vogue. According to film critic Bhawana Somaya’s byte to a TV news channel, when asked about the kind of man she wanted to marry, Sridevi told her that she wanted to marry a man who was taller than her. Bhawana also spoke about how Sridevi had this dramatic quality of transforming into a completely bubbly and extrovert person on celluloid while she was stark opposite to most of her characters.

Sridevi once said, “Some people think that I am very arrogant, but I am genuinely a very private and shy person. I open up to people who are close to me, and with them, I am a different person.”

Her director Ram Gopal Varma wrote a post on social media post her demise titled: I HATE GOD FOR KILLING SRIDEVI AND I HATE SRIDEVI FOR DYING. He also wrote about Sridevi’s shy persona, “She had an invisible wall around her and she does not let anyone cross that. Behind that wall she maintains her dignity and her self-respect and she never lets anyone inside.” He ended his note with a painful obit: I so hope I am still having a bad dream,but I know I am not. I hate Sridevi. I hate her for making me realise that she too is finally only just a human being. I hate that her heart too has to beat to live. I hate that,she too has a heart which can just stop like anybody else’s. I hate that I lived to see the messages informing me of her death. I hate God for killing her . And I hate Sridevi for dying. I love you Sri wherever you are… and I will always love you.”

The doting mother

“When we named our daughter Jahnavi .. I had called up Sriji to say ,my baby had the same name as her daughter ..!!☺️??...... how time... and life .. fly .” Juhi Chawla tweeted. 

Sridevi’s daughter Jahnvi is about to make her Bollywood debut in July 2018 with Karan Johar ’s Dhadak opposite Shahid Kapoor ’s brother Ishaan Khattar. It’s unfortunate that she has passed away before she could see her daughter’s professional debut. Quite eerily, this is exactly what happened to Arjun Kapoor when his mother passed away before the release of his debut movie Ishaqzaade.

In an interview to The Scroll, Sridevi spoke about her daughters: “Both my daughters have been brought up with certain ethics and values and know where to draw a line. I am a cool mom, but, there is always a but. Yes, there are more professional managers and crew and filmmakers, but there is absolutely no substitute for hard work. It is not something Jhanvi can take for granted. And also luck. And my daughters know where I came from and they know where to draw a line.”

Shy but extremely secure

In an interview around the release of English Vinglish, she confessed: “I don’t go to the kitchen; I cannot cook, forget making laddoos.” One of her famous quotes on the internet is, “Believe it or not, I don't have an ego. That is one of the first lessons I learnt when I entered this line.” 

Little do people know that Sridevi was the reason why actresses like Vidya Balan , Karisma and Kareena Kapoor joined films in the first place. Their inspiration is no more, the brightest and first female superstar of Indian cinema is no more. Pinching yet quite rightly true, actor Ronit Roy voiced our emotions in one line: “Since sunrise this song keeps playing in my head “ik din bik jayegaa mati ke mol…….”

In one of her own dialogues, Sridevi said, “Pyaar Hawa Ka Ek Jhonka Hai Jo Sab Kuch Uda Le Jata Hai” 

Gone too soon, Bollywood’s Chandni now joins the galaxy of stars in heaven.