Sri Devi - India’s First Female Superstar

Authour - SHRAVANI PRABHUDESAI 

Famous bollywood actress Sridevi Kapoor, well known by her mononym SriDevi a major bollywood star who starred in hundreds of films passed away  recently  on 24/02/2018. A sad demise to bollywood.  Her death  has left India in a state of mourning and denial. She gave all Indians a very big "Sadma".

SriDevi stepped into bollywood at the age of 4 as a child actor in Tamil movie named "Kandan Karunai". She made her debut in tollywood as a child artist with the Telgu film " Maa Nanna Nirdoshi "in 1970. She started her career and then she never looked back. She gave many hit movies in hindi too.  She started her career in bollywood as a heroine in the hindi film "Solava Sawan" in 1979. But the movie that gave her name and fame in bollywood was "Himmatwala" and her opposite start in this movie was Jitendra. And this movie became the highest blockbusters of the year 1983.
She appeared in numerous films throughout the 80's and 90's

including "Mr.India" , "Chandni" ,  "Sadma" , "Nagina", "Nazrana", "Masterji"  and so on.  She was also known as "Hawa Hawai girl".  She took a 15-year long break in 1997, and then made her comeback in 2012 with the blockbuster "English Vinglish." Last year she starred in "Mom." But unfortunately it was her last movie she acted in. Sridevi also made her debut as a fashion model in 2008.

She won 5 filmfare awards in her career and was  nominated for 10 awards. Out of which three she won for south movies and two awards for bollywood.  And  she was also awarded with "Padmashri Award" from government of India. She has worked in 5 different film industries. "Range" is a word often used to describe the actor's prowess. Drama, emotions, dance, comedy, even action. There was nothing she wasn't proficient at.

She was born in Madras on 13th August 1963  to Tamil father and Telgu mother. She was married to famous Indian film producer Boney Kapoor and was blessed with two beautiful daughters Janavi and Khushi.  She was a passionate painter too. She was also a well – versed painter. Her paintings were sold by an international art auction house in the year 2010 and the money was donated.

She was a veteran of the film industry, whose long career included diverse roles and memorable performances.  She has left millions of fans heartbroken. She is a very good inspiration for other actors, particularly her  films such as 'Moondram Pirai', 'Lamhe' and 'English Vinglish' remain an inspiration for other actors.