In his biography, Sridevi—The Eternal Screen Goddess, which was published by Penguin Random House December last year, author Satyarth Nayak captures the actor's five-decade long journey to becoming India’s first female superstar. Nayak's book single-handedly gives you an account of both the performer and the person Sridevi was away from the spotlight. From her rise to fame in not one, but three film industries and her battles against patriarchy and sexism, to her relationship with husband Boney Kapoor and her historic comeback, the book takes fans of the late icon through every facet of her life.
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"To condense a gargantuan career that produced 300 films across five languages was daunting and yet fascinating," Nayak revealed to Vogue India in a recent chat. "What stood out for me was meeting over 70 film personalities, both in Bollywood and down south, and collecting the rare anecdotes they shared about Sridevi. Voices like Lata Mangeshkar, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Kajol, Vidya Balan, Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, Boney Kapoor and many more have recounted wonderful memories of the screen icon."
February 24, 2020 marks two years since the untimely demise of Sridevi, who passed away in Dubai. To celebrate the star who won the hearts of millions around the globe, Nayak shares a special excerpt from the biography.
“The jubilee success of Mr India had further consolidated her conquest of the male bastion that Bollywood was. Sridevi had not only overshadowed the hero but her greater screen time in the film was a radical win in that decade when most heroines were only incidental to the plot. Sridevi had now redefined the Hindi film actress, pulled her out from the pits of being a glorified extra and installed her on par with her male counterparts. The media now anointed her with another sobriquet. Female Bachchan. The label soon acquired a whole new meaning when Sridevi now decided to stop working with Amitabh. An actress who had barely spent five years in Bollywood was now refusing to genuflect before its biggest idol. In a phase where every heroine was salivating to be Bachchan’s leading lady, Sridevi’s decision was open mutiny. In an interview, Sridevi gave her reason why: ‘What’s there for any artiste to do in a film starring Amit-ji? He does everything himself.’ Bachchan would have to woo her with a truckload of flowers to get her to star opposite him in Khuda Gawah!”
Also Read:
Janhvi Kapoor on her memories with Sridevi in their Chennai home: "My childhood smells like my mom"
Gauri Shinde on Sridevi’s death: “I couldn’t work on a film all of last year”
Manish Malhotra remembers Sridevi days before her death anniversary
