Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 26 March 2018 | страница 7

INBOXED
Flash Of Life
NOIDA Bal Govind: If Sridevi was a
terrific actress who had the right mix of
method and spontaneity, Kamala­haasan
had a huge role to play in grooming her
talent—in the initial days (Where
Lightning Fell, March 12). Before finally
shifting her base to the Hindi film indus-
try, she had as many as 50 films with
southern super stars Rajnikanth and
Kamal. She was someone who started
acting at the young age of four and later
became the sole breadwinner for her
family. From 1985 to ’92, Sridevi was the
highest paid Bollywood actress. She is
not being ­referred to as the first female
superstar of Hindi cinema for nothing.
She commanded respect and money
from the producers because of her sheer
This Hellish Normal
HYDERABAD J.S. Acharya: God’s own country
holds many of its people to be the children of a lesser
god (Hunger, Bloodthirst, Murder, March 12). The
lynching of Madhu, an adivasi youth, defies parallel in
its savagery and crudity—and goes to show that
adivasis are among Kerala’s Untermenschen. It also
goes to show that a mob—be it of any political or reli-
gious affiliation—is a mob: violent and savage.
Kerala, obviously, is far from alone in its treatment of
the underprivileged. The increasingly unabashed
nature of attacks against marginalised people all over the country is truly
frightening. If at all, this lynching seems to have derived its sense of impunity
from other lynchings in the country. It’s clear that the culprits fear punish-
ment no longer; their actions enjoy the State’s tacit approval. This killing and
others contribute directly to the establishment of a society in which the norms
are set a ­ ccording to a distinctly majo­ritarian agenda. Civil society must zeal-
ously ­resist the normalisation of such criminal behaviour.
in rank sensationalism by autopsying
the tragedy most distastefully, ignoring
the grief around the news. Surely the
bubbly queen of histrionics who
reigned over the silver screen for years
didn’t d
­ eserve this shabby treatment.
NEW SOUTH WALES Meghana A.:
DEAR DIVA Sridevi in English Vinglish
talent and stardom. And like all super-
stars, all her movies, even the relatively
unsuccessful ones, are etched in the
memory of her admirers.
KOCHI George Jacob: Just as the
­ ntimely and premature passing away
u
of Sridevi left the country shell-
shocked, the insensitive press indulged
Her two comeback films in recent times
show Sridevi’s wide range as an a ­ ctress.
In the 2017 thriller Mom, she plays an
avenging mother who is out to get her
daughter’s rapists, while in her come-
back movie in 2012, English Vinglish,
she is seen as a docile housewife who
battles negative attitudes by learning
English, and eventually develops a pas-
sion for it. Her daughter Janhvi’s debut
in a Karan Johar film would have made
her a star-mom too. For our generation
of movie-lovers, Sridevi was and will
always be pure electricity, a bonafide
bijli, who, at her best, lit up the screen.
ON E-MAIL Padmini Raghavendra:
Sridevi came into Bollywood at a time
when there were no publicists and styl-
ists surrounding a star. Also, the film
press in those days was not as adulatory
as it is today. She was not fluent in
English and spoke very little Hindi. I
remember her Bollywood film Julie,
where she had a small role—as sister of
the leading actress, Lakshmi. Later, the
success in Himmatwala made her a star
in the rest of India (she was already one
in the south). If stardom is to be judged
by mass appeal, then there’s no other
Indian actress who had the kind of
reach that Sridevi had. From the late
’70s to the late ’90s, she was the reign-
ing superstar of the Hindi and southern
film industry, with leg­ions of fans
across the country. It is unlikely that
we will get an encore of the combina-
tion of beauty, grace and ­all-round
talent that Sridevi was.
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MORE THAN JUST THE NEWSMAGAZINE
26 March 2018 OUTLOOK 7