Sridevi was one of the most gorgeous and graceful actresses who has appeared in more than hundreds of films not only in Bollywood but also in other regional languages that include Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil languages. She was regarded as Hindi cinema"s first "Female Superstar". Sridevi was ranked among the highest-paid actors in the 1980s and 1990s.
Early Life of Sridevi
Sridevi was born on 13th August 1963 as Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan and was brought up in Sivakasi, a district in Tamil Nadu. Her father was a lawyer. She has a sister and two stepbrothers in her family. She lost her father died while shooting for the film `Lamhe`, and her mother expired during the making of movie `Judaai`. Sridevi began her career as a child artist in the Tamil movie `Kandhan Karunai` in 1967 and acted in many Telugu films and Tamil cinemas. She also starred in many Malayalam cinemas.
Career of Sridevi
Sridevi started her acting career with M. A. Thirumugam"s 1969 devotional film "Thunaivan" at the age of 4. She made her Bollywood debut as a child artist in "Rani Mera Naam" (1972) and played her first adult role at age 13 with the Tamil film "Moondru Mudichu" (1976). Sridevi established herself with the 16 leading roles in "Vayathinile" (1977), "Sigappu Rojakkal"(1978), "Varumayin Niram Sivappu" (1980), "Meendum Kokila" (1981), "Premabhishekam" (1981), "Moondram Pirai" (1982), "Aakhari Poratam" (1988), "Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari" (1990) and "Kshana Kshanam" (1991).
She made her debut in the Hindi Film Industry with the movie `Solva Saawan` which did not do too well in the box-office, however, her second movie; `Himmatwala` was a grand success. This was followed by her masterpiece performance in `Sadma`, which is still regarded as one of the classics in modern cinema and remains the most epic child-woman performance of her career. Throughout the 1980s, she starred in a number of super hit films, which included `Tohfa`, `Nagina`, `Mr. India`, `Chandni`, `Chaalbaaz`, "Maqsad", "Judaai", etc. Yash Chopra directed her in the movie `Lamhe` in the year 1991, where again she portrayed a dual role, which was sensitive and intense and immortalized her in Hindi Cinema. Her memorable and powerful performances in movies `Khuda Gawah`, `Gumrah`, `Laadla` and so on made her an absolute darling in the Bollywood Film Industry. In the late 90s she starred in another box-office hit Bollywood flick `Army` opposite the Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Sridevi has appeared in many Malayalam movies mostly directed by I. V. Sasi. Some of her notable Malayalam movies are `Aadhyapaadam`, `Aalinganam`, `Kuttavum Sikshaiyum` and so on. She got her first big break in Tamil movie `Moondru Mudichu` opposite Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth.
In early 2011, she comeback with a new film "English Vinglish", directed by Gauri Shinde. After that, she was next seen in her home production titled "Mom". Sridevi apart from elating silver screen audiences even won the hearts of the small screen audiences with her popular show `Malini Iyer`, "Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai", "10 Ka Dum", "Satyamev Jayte" and judged a television show `Kaboom`. She also appeared in several print and Television ads. She was also on the Board of Directors of the Asian Academy of Film and Television.
Awards and Achievements of Sridevi
Following are the awards received by Sridevi:
•Zee Cine Best Actress Award (2018)
•Filmfare Glamour and Style Awards (2015)
•Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
•STARVIEWS FILM AWARDS (2015)
•ANR national award (2014)
•Inspiring Icon award from Sathyabama University
•Special Honour at 2nd Hiru Golden Film Festival for Contribution to Asian Cinema (2014)
•Padma Shri (2013)
•Filmfare Special Award (2013)
•Stardust Awards (2013)
•NDTV Indian of the Year (2013)
•India Today Woman Summit Awards (2013)
•TSR-TV9 Awards (2013)
•Honoured by Government of Kerala for contribution to Cinema (2013)
•Voted `India`s Greatest Actress of All Time` in CNN-IBN Poll (2013)
•President of India `Medallion of Honour` for contribution to 100 Years of Indian Cinema (2013)
•Jagran film festival Best actress award for English Vinglish (2013)
•Voted "Most-Admired Bollywood Actress" by Vuclip, world`s largest mobile research company (2012)
•Ranked No.1 as "Bollywood`s 10 Best Actresses Of 2012" by Rediff (2012)
•Ranked No.1 in the Top 10 Bollywood Actresses Of 2012 by Box Office Capsule (2012)
•Ranked No.1 in the Top 10 Bollywood Actresses Of 2012 by CNN IBN (2012)
•Voted No.1 as the best Bollywood Actress of 2012 by Koimoi.com (2012)
•Ranked No.1 in the Top 10 Bollywood Actresses of 2012 by Bollyspice.com (2012)
•Voted No.1 as the most powerful woman in Bollywood town with more than 74% votes by Bollywoodlife.com (2012)
•BIG Star Entertainment Awards (2012)
•IRDS Film Award 2012 for performance as Shashi Godbole in English Vinglish (2012)
•Special Honour at 33rd Cairo International Film Festival for Contribution to Hindi Cinema (2009)
•FICCI "Living Legend in Entertainment Award" (2008)
•Lachchu Maharaj Award (2003)
•Vamsee International Award for Contribution in Indian Cinema (2003)
•MAMI Award in Contribution to Indian Cinema (2003)
•Filmfare Best Actress Award (1992), (1990), (1991),( 1982), (1977)
•Kalasaraswathi Award by the Government of Andhra Pradesh (1997)
•Smita Patil Memorial Award for Contribution to Indian Cinema (1990)
Personal Life of Sridevi
In 1996, Sridevi married Boney Kapoor, a film producer who is also the elder brother of actors Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Kapoor. They have two daughters, Jahnvi and Khushi.
Death of Sridevi
Sridevi died on 24 February 2018 in Dubai. Although it was announced earlier that the cause of death was a massive cardiac arrest, the forensic report released by Dubai Police indicated that Sridevi died of accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub.