Dear Sridevi.

So many questions after yesterday. There is a storm in my brain so I must get this out. Read on if you were a fan.

Was Sridevi an entity or an actor? It’s hard to say. The numerous memes of a golden-clad Sri singing Hawa Hawai still inhabit your Facebook feed and unlike Mr. India, which is 21 years old this year, those memes and facial expressions of what was Sridevi still instigate laughter within me. Sridevi wasn’t an actor, she was a type of cinema. In times when women were nun-like, celibate girls who either fashioned mangal sutras in films and made their husbands happy, or two types of polar opposites - the Lalita Pawar angry saas or the Karan Johar-Sooraj Barjatya prototype of a happy cuddly supportive mother, Sridevi presented a more liberal and more feminist, hell, innovative look at the “other” gender of Bollywood. Amitabh Bachchan presented the angry young man of Bollywood. Sridevi took all five languages she performed in, from 4 years to 54 years of age, by a literal storm. She bridged the gap of what all actresses are struggling in today - commercial cinema. Sridevi, with her acting prowess, never made the term ‘mainstream’ feel derogatory. Yes, she was Yash Chopra’s Chandni but she was Kamal Hassan’s Nehalata in Sadma. Sridevi did films that were made to fit a masala mould, yet unlike those films that also fell into that category, they never made you feel like you were watching a formulaic piece of nothing.

Perhaps that is either due to the fantastic choices by the late actress or the acting prowess - we may never know. But all I do know is that in 50 years, the tour de force of cinema churned out exactly 300 films - the last of which being Mom. Perhaps Mom was a perfect crescendo to end the era that the titular mom had historicised. She had made that era her own. While the 1980s were Bollywood’s DD (disaster decade), Lamhe and Chandni were two thought provoking scripts from a director who had according to most overstayed his welcome in the throws of fame. Lamhe’s story was illogical but you didn’t care. You rooted for Sridevi and Anil Kapoor. You loved Viren and Pooja together.

Yet, back to my point, of Mom being a perfect high note in the actress’ sonatina. Sridevi was breathtaking as Devki, imbuing a role you hadn’t seen an actress pull off very well (considering we had 5 rape-revenge thrillers in that year alone). As the film had wholes in its narrative, Sri never gave up and delivered a performance worthy of love and praise - which she did get. Nonetheless, ending her career with the powerhouse MOM, which will only be remembered for reason - the mom in the case, is a victory for her career.

But for me, the actress’ most memorable film will be English Vinglish. Gauri Shinde’s mis-fit 2012 drama fit the Sridevi persona so well, it almost seemed convenient. Yet, like her husband, R. Balki, Shinde created a crackling concept that unlike Balki’s cinema was smooth throughout its runtime. Sridevi was a revelation as the ladoo-making Shashi in search of not a good, wealthy life or even the titular English language but some respect. She owned Shinde’s dramedy along noted actors like Adil Hussain, making it seem like child’s play for an actress to return from sabbatical (making Preity Zinta’s Ishqk in Paris and Madhuri Dixit’s Devdas to Aaje Nachle seem shameful). Shashi wasn’t a revelation. She was a revolution.

And I guess you could say that about the late actress too. She wasn’t a revelation. Well, maybe she started off as one. But the Himmatwala actress ended up being a revolution. Gone too soon, I remember Sridevi Ji for having done way too many films for such a short time. Yet, whenever she was on screen, the introverted rather quiet actress imbued her character - something you rarely find today. So wherever Sridevi is right now, I hope that she is clad in white, singing her favourite tunes and dancing away to her heart’s glory, cooking up some revolutions. Thinking about that makes me look forward to the actress’ 301st film. In another lifetime. And that makes me so happy.