The Sridevi Repertoire: A Gallery Of Her Greatest Performances (Part Three)

"It was Sridevi who changed what it meant to be a woman on the screen in India. It was she who first brought energy to acting for the Indian actress." -- Shabana Azmi, Filmfare (1994)

This presentation is a five-part collection of the most memorable and landmark performances of India's greatest actress, Sridevi. Thankfully, Sridevi has left behind an incredible body of work that spans decades, genres, and languages. She has not settled for being a mere glamorous ornament in hero-centric films: she has established a new paradigm for what it means to be an actress in India, and done so by redefining the limits of the the types of roles a leading lady could play.

Indeed, with the notable exception of Amitabh Bachchan (and perhaps not even with that exception), Sridevi has played the most distinct and dynamic variety of landmark roles in Indian Cinema: a mentally retarded prostitute (Sadma), a comic journalist/drag queen/superheroine (Mr. India), a serpent avatar (Nagina), a pair of twins -- one a victim of domestic abuse, the other a drunken misfit superstar wannabe (Chaalbaaz), an aggrandized, cherubic romantic (Chandni), the double role of a woman who falls in love with a man who was once in love with her mother (Lamhe), a tribal Afghani Queen ravaged by the presumed death of her husband (Khuda Gawah, another double role), a star-crossed Punjabi lover (Heer Ranjha), a vengeful conwoman (Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja), a wrongly accused drug smuggler imprisoned in China (Gumrah), a monstrously powerful corporate Hell Queen (Laadla), a scatter-brained modern woman who gets caught up in a comic crime caper (Hairaan), an implacable widow in pursuit of justice for her husband's murder (Army), a reluctant adoptive mother (Mr. Bechara) and an impoverished housewife who literally sells her husband to another woman in order to acquire material wealth (Judaai). Whilst other actresses have managed to forge careers with remarkably little acting, Sridevi has built a repertoire comparable only to a few other actors in the world.

These 14 roles encapsulate the behemoth of talent and brilliance that is Sridevi. She not only tore down many barriers and opened up new doors for herself and other actresses, but she proved that she could take mediocre material (sometimes even downright bad writing) and make it not only palatable, but brilliant. In my opinion, her three finest performances are (in order) 1) Lamhe, 2) Sadma, and 3) Chaalbaaz.

Khalid Mohammed, India's premiere film critic, perhaps put it best when he wrote of Sridevi in 1996: "She has meant so much to all of us. The Queen of the Marquee for over a decade. The Supreme Entertainer. The heroine whose performances have lit up our lives in the dark of the auditorium. The bundle of energy and elan who was, without question, born to act."

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Sridevi
• Gallery
• Sadma
• Mr. India
• Nagina
• Chaalbaaz
• Chandni
• Lamhe
• Khudah Gawah
• Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja
• Heer Ranjha
• Hairaain
• Gumrah
• Laadla
• Army
• Mr Bechara
• Judaai
• Bollywood

[wizman009]

Your clips are always very well-edited. Keep it up!

[teenbauwa]

Sri is too good. Great upload!

[saipreeti9]

cant wait to see her again on screen.This is the only actress I love in bollywood cinema.

[chof0319]

@sabbirsa shes back.

[lakshmere]

OMG, the "high-voltage" actress of todays Bolywood can really pack their basktets and go home! Sridevi is and will be a mind-blowing actress!

[sheru7meraa7naam]

Lamhe is without a doubt, her best performance.... it's because of the film i became a sridevi fan...i especially loved that rain dance song she did... 'megha re megha' and of course, the spectacularly presented "morni"

[teenbauwa]

@Roji11

You said it.

I mean the unloader of this clip should make a movie and we will watch it 1st day 1st show!

[Roji11]

u sld make movies, ill watch it. 1st day, 1st show!!!

[mansnoorilyas]

all of yr clips r great u r superb

sri devi is the best indian cenima has ever seen.

[sreek22]

OMG! She is Beautiful!!!!!!!!

[MegaPalwasha]

is this a Pushtu real story?? Khuda Gawa!!

[sabbirsa]

The scene in Khuda Gawa when she turns insane upon realizing that her husband is dead, what a magnificent performance. She completely sinks into the character and the scene. Sridevi should really come back to cinema, if not for her but for the sake of her devoted fans (I am not a devoted one but do like her).