Jeetendra talks exclusively to midday after the sad demise of veteran actress Sridevi
As told to Upala KBR (MID-DAY; February 26, 2018)

I first met Sridevi at the 100th day jubilee function of one of her Tamil films. I walked up to this bright-eyed girl and congratulated her on her performance. Little did I know that we would be working together in a few months' time.

I was going through a low phase after Deedar-E-Yaar (1982) – the film suffered heavy losses, and brought me back to square one as an actor and producer. Sridevi, too, was coming out of Solva Saawan (1979), her debut film as a full-fledged heroine in Bollywood. The film didn't fare well and almost put her out of the Hindi film industry. So Himmatwala, directed by K Raghavendra Rao, was a turning point for both of us.

We all know how it changed both our fortunes. Not many know that Rekha was the original choice for Himmatwala. But I guess Sridevi was destined to do the film – she bagged the role and the film became one of the biggest grossers of the year. And with it, Bollywood woke up to the magic of Sridevi.

Today [February 25] marked the 35th anniversary of the film's release and it's tragic how she passed away just a day before... I was terribly shocked when I heard about her demise.

Sridevi was one of my closest co-stars and we did 15 movies together. She was an actor par excellence. What was even more admirable about her was her dedication to the craft – she would keep rehearsing a scene until she was fully satisfied with it. I had deep admiration for her discipline towards her work.

I remember I used to be nervous whenever I would have to dance with Sridevi. She was a fabulous dancer who would get the steps perfectly, right at the first attempt while I had to keep doing rehearsals to match up to her.

I have so many beautiful memories of Sridevi. It's still so difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that the woman, who ruled over everyone's hearts with her shy smile and bright eyes, is no more.

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; July 26, 2017)

Recently, Taapsee Pannu caused a stir in the South Indian film industry when she talked about a practice that has been going on for decades. Directors down South like to shoot heroines’ midriff with different objects, because they believe it looks sensual on screen. Citing an example, Taapsee had revealed that one filmmaker had filmed her while dropping a coconut on her midriff.

She had said, “On the first day, they started with a song, with this obsession over midriff. The director who launched me is known to show the sensuality of a woman by showing the midriff and throwing fruits and flowers on the midriff. I saw Sridevi’s and other videos, everyone had flowers and fruits thrown at them. When it was my turn, they threw a coconut at me. I don’t know what is so sensuous about a coconut hitting my midriff.” We asked Ileana D’Cruz and Amy Jackson, who have also worked in the South industry, if they too had similar experiences, and this is what they said....

Ileana D’Cruz
My first South film was with Y V S Chowdary, he considers K Raghavendra Rao his guru, and is known to film such scenes. So yes, in my first Telugu film, there was this scene where I had a porcelain shell dropped on my belly, in slow motion. And it was fairly big and heavy. My ab muscles hurt so much. I was 18 then and I had no idea what I was doing and why it is considered sexy. There would be so many shots and close-ups so often. It’s been 11 years, and I still don’t understand what goes into filmmaking at all. I am comfortable having people tell me what to do. As far as the flowers, coconuts, and all are concerned, it’s horrible. They used to call me Nadumu something which technically means hip something. Now, I have to thank them because I was ragged for the longest time for having big hips, and they kind of made me look at myself and feel: that’s not bad! (laughs)

Amy Jackson
It’s horrific! I want to request makers to please stop this. I guess it’s in the Telugu industry. I have definitely not gone through this and I am glad I didn’t. Because if someone did that to me, I will throw the coconut right back at them. They would never do that to me because they know I am like this. Also, I have been really fortunate and have worked with some great directors and good co-stars. Not every actress has been in this situation. But being in such a situation is horrible. I would hate to have to deal with that.