Sridevi's most memorable films

With a record 11 Filmfare Award nominations and a commendable 3 wins is a feat every other Bollywood actress would envy. India’s first bona fide female superstar Sridevi left behind a remarkable legacy as she passed away on Sunday, February 25, 2018. Here’s looking at Sridevi’s most memorable films in Bollywood.

‘Sadma’ told the story of Nehalata (Sridevi), a young girl who regresses to childhood after suffering a head injury in a car crash. Lost, she ends up trapped in a brothel before being rescued by Somu (Kamal Haasan), a lonely school teacher who falls in love with her. The film was a remake of Balu Mahendra's own Tamil Film ‘Moondram Pirai’, starring Kamal Haasan and Sridevi. Sridevi's autistic child-woman performance was widely praised and is considered one of the finest performances and also brought her nominations in the Filmfare Best Actress award category as well as State awards and National Awards. Kamal's performance in the film's climax won him the National Award in the Tamil original. The film flopped at the box-office, but achieved cult status and is regarded as an all time classic featuring Kamal Haasan and Sridevi's best performances.

‘Chandni’ was one of the biggest box office hits of 1989. It won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film of 1989 and is regarded as one of the Yash Chopra's best films. The romantic saga is also particularly remembered for Sridevi’s brilliant portrayal of the titular character that was crossed between two men. She was also nominated for the Filmfare Award in the Best Actress category.

‘Mr. India’ was the highest-grossing Indian film of 1987, and remains a cult classic. The film was known for several of its lines and songs, including Sridevi's Miss Hawa Hawaii performance, and Amrish Puri's quote "Mogambo khush hua", which is one of the most famous quotes of Bollywood and became synonymous with the actor. The Mogambo character is also considered to be one of the best villains in Bollywood history. Laxmikant-Pyarelal's music performed well too, especially the song ‘Hawa Hawaii’ which is very popular till today. The film has often been featured in different lists of top Bollywood films.

‘ChaalBaaz’ is the remake of 1973 Indian film ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’. Starring Sridevi in a double role, the film tells the story of two separated twin sisters Anju who is badly treated and abused by her uncle while Manju a street smart girl. The movie is regarded as an all-time classic comedy film of Hindi cinema and is also regarded as one of Sridevi's finest performances till date. The film also starred Rajinikanth, Sunny Deol, Anupam Kher, Shakti Kapoor, Rohini Hattangadi and Anu Kapoor. The film was one of the biggest commercial and critical success of 1989.

Over the years, ‘Lamhe’ has been hailed as a classic and possibly Yash Chopra's finest film. Sridevi received widespread acclaim for her performance in the film and won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Although a commercial failure in India, it became a success in the UK. Lamhe went on to win several awards and has been cited as Yash Chopra's personal favourite of the movies he has done.

‘Judaai’ featured Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Urmila Matondkar in leading roles; and Kader Khan, Farida Jalal, Johnny Lever, Paresh Rawal, Upasana Singh and Saeed Jaffrey in supporting roles; while Poonam Dhillon made a special appearance. The film was a remake of 1994 Telugu film ‘Shubhalagnam’. The film itself was remade into a television series,’ Main Lakshmi Tere Aangan Ki’. It has been declared a super hit film by box-office in 1997. It was a remake of 1996 Tamil film ‘Irattai Roja’.

The narrative of ‘English Vinglish’ revolved around a homemaker who enrolls in an English-speaking course to stop her husband and daughter mocking her lack of English skills and gains self-respect in the process. The protagonist, played by Sridevi, was inspired by director Gauri Shinde's mother. ‘English Vinglish’ was originally made in Hindi; later it was re-shot in Tamil and released along with a Telugu dubbed version on 5 October 2012. The film marked Sridevi's return to filmmaking after a 15-year hiatus. It was shortlisted as India's official entry for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.