- Born
- Died
- Birth nameShree Amma Yanger Ayyapan
- Nicknames
- Puppy
- Indian cinema's first female superstar
- Chandni
- Miss Hawa Hawaii
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- Sridevi was born on August 13, 1963 in her father's hometown of Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, India. Her mother was from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. So Sridevi grew up speaking Telugu and Tamil. She has a sister named Srilatha and a stepbrother named Satish. Her dad passed away during the year 1991, while her mom died during 1997.
She started her career at a very early age in 1967 as a child artiste in a Tamil movie 'Kandhan Karunai'. She also starred as a child actress in a Telugu movie 'Bangarakka' in 1977, and in a Malyalam movie 'Kumara Sambhavan' in 1969.
She made her foray on the Bollywood tinsel screen in 1975 as a child actor with the smash-hit 'Julie' in which she played the younger sister of the lead actress. Thereafter she started to act in adult roles in Hindi only from 1979. She appeared in 63 movies in Hindi; 62 in Telugu; 58 in Tamil; and 21 in Malyalam - in a career that has spanned from 1967 through to 2007.
Sridevi established strong onscreen pair with Kamal Hasan in Tamil films from 1977-1983 and then with Jeetendra in Hindi Films from 1983-1988 which helped her get foothold in Hindi films. Her initial claim to fame was appearing as romantic interest to established stars NTR, ANR, Krishna Ghattamaneni,Vishnuvardhan in Telugu and Kannada films from 1978-1985.She has four hits with Rajesh Khanna and then from late 80's till 1996 her pair with Anil Kapoor was popular. But she became popular all over India, thanks to Tamil films' remakes in Hindi in 1983-1990 which were produced and directed by the same team which had made the southern version first and in these films she was cast opposite Rajesh Khanna or Jeetendra.
She has also appeared in the TV series 'Malini Iyer', judged a TV show 'Kaboom' as well as appeared in numerous print and TV ads. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Asian Academy of Film & Television.
Sridevi went on to get married to her co-star, Anil Kapoor's older brother, Boney, on June 2, 1996. They are now parents of two daughters: Jhanvi and Khushi.
She made a comeback to films with "English Vinglish" in 2012.
She passed away on 24 February 2018 by accidental drowning in bathtub during her stay at the hotel Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai UAE, when she was attending the wedding of Bollywood actor Mohit Marwah in Dubai, UAE. She was 54 years old.- IMDb Mini Biography By: rAjOo
- SpouseBoney Kapoor(June 2, 1996 - February 24, 2018) (her death, 2 children)
- Children
- ParentsRajeswari YangerAyyapan Yanger
- Was an introvert off-screen, but was headstrong and outspoken with her on-screen persona
- The ability to perform slapstick timing
- Often played strong-willed women roles
- She was the sole income earner in her family. She financially supported her mother, stepfather, sister and stepbrother.
- Sridevi was offered a role in "Jurassic Park" by Steven Spielberg. She refused because it wasn't a starring role and it would have meant taking a hiatus from Bollywood at a time when she was at the peak of her career.
- In the 1980s, Jaya Prada and Sridevi were fierce rivals. They were of a similar age, from the South and considered contenders for the coveted number one slot in Hindi cinema. Producers loved pairing them up in films, because of their amazing on-screen chemistry. But in public, each would give the other the cold shoulder. Once, during the shooting of Maqsad (1984), Jeetendra and Rajesh Khanna locked the two warring queens in the same makeup room hoping they'd make up. No such thing happened. Two hours later, when he opened the door, they found the actresses sitting at opposite ends of the room in silence. However, in 2015, Sridevi attended the wedding of Jayaprada's nephew and warmly held hands with her former rival. In the intervening 30 years, both had taken separate paths in life, with Sridevi focusing on motherhood, and Jayaprada focusing on politics, so they were no longer in competition to rule the silver screen, and thus were able to mend fences. Jaya Prada and Sridevi remained in touch between 1998 to 2018. They worked together in Tohfa, Maqsad, Aulad, Main Tera Dushman. When Sridevi died of accidental drowning in 2018, a shocked Jayaprada called it "a bad dream" and talked about how it was Sridevi's wish that her daughters rule the silver screen like she had. Then, she went to Sridevi's house to pay her last respects to the family.
- Has two daughters named Jhanvi (b. 1997) and Khushi (b. November 5, 2000), both named after the heroines in husband Boney Kapoor's films Judaai (1997) and Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000).
- Sridevi was the highest paid Hindi actress from 1985-1992 and the 2nd highest paid Hindi actress from 1993-1996.
- To be very honest, the characters I have played in the south has been much, much more challenging and exciting then what I have done in Hindi cinema
- The character I was supposed to play in "Yugpurush" is a very good character. There was only one thorn in the flesh, I was supposed to be playing a prostitute. Somewhere I think I have developed a mental block against playing a prostitute. I get uncomfortable and so I guess I won't be able to do full justice to the character.
- Believe it or not, I don't have an ego. That is one of the first lessons I learnt when I entered this line. Every thing here is so uncertain. One moment you are a goddess and the next moment you are out of work. And under the circumstances the ego is hardly any help. I don't believe in it and I think every actor or actress should learnt to crush their ego even before they learn to act. But here the equation is very strange, so many people who don't know to act also have an ego
- During work, I don't like fights and tensions. Jaya Prada and I initially did not get along. However, when we realised that the press was thriving on our cold war, we decided to make up. Strangely, the fights never affected our work. If you see Tohfa (1984) or Maqsad (1984) you will never sense the hostility. Thank God, we are on talking terms now, no more of those pointless controversies.
- In Hindi, my favorite roles were in Naya Kadam, Masterji, Mr. India, Lamhe, Chaalbaaz, Laadla, Mr. Bechara, Judaai.That too remember Naya Kadam, Masterji, Laadla, Judaai, Mr. Bechara were remakes of Tamil films with different heroine. But in Tamil films, the list is longer. All the films I did in Tamil were really strong ones - every film I did with K.Balachander, Bharati Raja, Balu Mahendra and starred with Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Hasan, Rajnikanth were really great films. I enjoyed the romantic roles I played with N.T.Rama Rao Sir, A.N.R sir as well.So directly or indirectly Tamil films have contributed me the most in my career either by way of doing direct Tamil films or by its remake in Hindi.
- Khuda Gawah (1992) - Rs. 2,500,000
- Chandni (1989) - Rs. 1,500,000
- Mr. India (1987) - Rs. 1,100,000
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