The Age of Sridevi

Forgotten beauties of Indian Cinema

Pratima Kannan 

Reena Roy

 I know little about the history of movies in India, so this is no more than my thoughts on how I view the movie scene in the state from what I have gleaned in the last few months. 

I know this will be a controversial article, as many view Sridevi, to this day, as the Queen of Bollywood though many actresses were, in my opinion, as good, yet lacked her connections.

I apologize to ladies that I may miss out on the article; as I said, I don't possess any depth of knowledge of the times or the cinema of the time.

The cinema industry in India from the mid-1980s until 2018 was dominated by two factors, the Kapoor family and one of the wives in the family, Sridevi.

The family rule was, and as far as I know, still is, if an actress marries into the family, she has to forgo her career and become a member of India's most celebrated family with a history dating to the beginnings of the cinema in India. That rule did not apply to Sridevi as she was known as the Queen of Bollywood and was one of the highest-paid actresses of her time.

One of Sridevi's most note-worthy roles was in the film Nagin. This story is about a pair of lovers who change into snakes during their love. The female snake turns into a killer when she sees her lover accidentally shot.

The role requires a lady to appear both seductive and powerful at the same time. In this role, I preferred Reena Roy, one of the many good actresses who lived in Sridevi's shadows for over 30 years.

In my opinion, Sridevi gained fame more from her connections than her ability as an actress. I am not saying she was a poor actress; I am saying there were many actresses her equal at the time who never had her opportunities as they were not so well connected.

A few of the names that come to my mind are Reema Lagoo, Farida Jalal, Aruna Irani, Rekha, and Pratima Kannan. All the ladies, and many more, are good character actresses who deserve more praise, yet go unnoticed as they are overshadowed by Sridevi to this day.