The shocking death of Bollywood actress Sridevi has left a void in the Bollywood. She was the biggest star of her generation in the Bollywood industry, an actress who ruled South Indian regional cinema and managed to do the same even in Hindi film industry. She acted in all four southern languages, becoming a part of several super hits and managed to repeat the same success up North, even without initially speaking a word of Hindi.
During the 1980s, Sridevi mass entertainers such as Himmatwala, Nagina, Mr. India, Chaalbaaz and a few others diffuse down to Hindi cinema’s B and C markets and ran on her strength as a solo heroine. Actress Sridevi also proved that she was at ease doing what Hindi film trade in the 1980s and 1990s called “class pictures” such as Yash Chopra’s Chandni and Lamhe. She also went on to reinvent herself in her second innings with English Vinglish, which was a sensational hit especially with the new age multiplex audiences.
Bollywood has welcomed South Indian actresses such as Padmini, Vyjyanthimala, Rekha, Hema Malini, Sridevi, Jayapradha and even Asin with open arms. You can add Aishwarya Rai in the list too because her first film was Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar. Bangalore girl Deepika Padukone, now an international star, also debuted with the Kannada film Aishwarya.
