Only Telugu diva to shine bright in Bollywood sky

The sudden demise of 54-year-old actress, has left a big void in T-town and in Bollywood town too.

Starting her career in Telugu films with the film as a child artiste in ‘Maa Nanna Nirdoshi’ in 1970 in which she played as the daughter of Krishna, Sridevi went on to act as a heroine opposite Krishna later on in several films like ‘Burripalem Bullodu’. 

Despite proving her acting talent as a child artiste in Telugu films like 'Badipanthulu,'

she became a sought-after actress in Tamil Nadu with hits like 'Padinaruvaiyathinile,' and  'Siggappu Rojjakal,'.

 Simultaneously, she made her mark in Telugu films and became a sought-after glamorous girl with blockbusters like 'Vetagadu.'  "Director Raghavendra Rao was not sure whether NTR will agree to work with Sridevi, as she played his granddaughter in the film ‘Badipanthulu’ but NTR agreed instantly,'

says producer Vallabhaneni  Ashok, who also describes her as an actress who worked with all the big stars in T-town. 

He said that she had blockbusters with NTR, ANR, Sobhan Babu, Krishna and Krishnam Raju to become the numero uno heroine in Telugu. She raced ahead of her peers like Jayaprada, Jayasudha and Radhika to become the highest paid actress as she was drawing Rs 4 lakh in her hey days," he adds.

She was a multi-faceted actor who was pretty good looking, good in emotion and also a great dancing sensation. "Her inimitable dancing style, grace and charm got her closer to her fans and to be hailed as a dancing senastion of the 1980’s and 90s,"says choreographer Chinni Prakash, who feels that mastering film dancing is not easy as it looks.

 "Adjusting to dancing steps to suit her co-star was the most difficult part for any actress, but she matched strides with heroes aged between 20 and 60 years and still managed to leave her distinct mark," adds Prakash. Another director Kodi Ramakrishna says, “She is one of Telugu heroines to have done more films with father and son.

She did more films with ANR and later with his son Nagarjuna and similarly with two generation stars and kept her charm intact. However, her one of the biggest hits was with megastar Chiranjeevi in 'Jagadeka Veerudu... and both looked awesome onscreen, he adds.
 
Interestingly, Sridevi found some shooting lapses with director RGV while shooting for ‘Kshanam Kshanam,’ “After shooting for three Hindi films, she arrived for 'Kshanam.. shooting, When RGV was taking a shot, she told that him that he was missing the continuity of the last scene they shot months ago.

RGV's ego was hurt. He stalled the shooting and went and verified the rushes they shot months ago and found he was at fault and thanked Sridevi. That’s the kind of technical knowledge she had about film-making,” says a source, close to RGV.

Even though, other peers like Jayaprada, Radhika and Jayasudha also did Hindi films, they never became an icon like Sridevi. 

“Himmathwala gave a good break but ‘Mr. India’ turned the tables in her favour and she didn't look back ever since. She followed up with blockbusters like 'Chandini,' and 'Nagini,' and worked with all big Bollywood stars to become the numero uno actress till the 1990s.

She was the only Telugu heroine to scale such heights in the Hindi film industry,” said director