Bollywood film icon Sridevi's life and legacy decoded in new book

Gulf News

Emirates Festival of Literature speaker Satyarth Nayak reveals all about the biography  Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/36FBttc   Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #UAEnews #Sridevi #Bollywood

Transcript

00:00Actress Sridevi remains India's most beloved and enigmatic movie idols.

00:07She was called India's first female superstar.

00:10It's going to be four years on Feb 24th since her death in Dubai.

00:14But her fans and family around the world are still struggling to gain closure.

00:19But who was Sridevi?

00:20Indian author and journalist Satyarth Nayak tries to decode the mystery and mystique behind

00:24the award-winning actress in his latest book, Sridevi, The Eternal Screen Goddess.

00:29We are in conversation with the author before his session at the Emirates Literature Festival

00:34this Friday and we talk about the highs and lows of encapsulating Sridevi's tremendous

00:38journey in his book.

00:40I was always very fascinated about her.

00:41I think when you write a book on someone, it is because you are so absolutely in love

00:46and fascination with that person, with whatever that person is.

00:49I went and met Bonisa regarding the book.

00:51This was in 2017.

00:53This was when she was alive.

00:54So, you know, I was the first to approach Bonisa.

00:57Because 2017 is also a milestone career in Sridevi's life.

01:00It was her 50th career in cinema and Mom was her 300th film.

01:04So, for me, I thought it was the right moment to actually do a book on her.

01:08I mean, what a great milestone, yeah.

01:10So, I spoke to Bonisa about that and he was extremely excited that yes, let's do a book

01:13that captures her journey.

01:15He spoke to Shree and she was interested at that point of time but also she told me let's

01:20wait for a year because Janhvi's movie is about to release, Thadak.

01:24So, she said once Thadak is out in 2018, August, that was supposed to come out.

01:28Once Thadak is out, we shall then, you know, get started on the book.

01:32So, that was the original plan.

01:33Then, of course, 24th failed happened and suddenly, you know, she was no longer there

01:38and I was in an absolute shock that how do I now do this book without her, in her absence.

01:43It just seemed an impossible task.

01:45But a friend of mine told a very beautiful thing.

01:48He said, you know, you owe this book to her.

01:51So, do it because you had promised this book to her.

01:53The only difference, he said, would be that now your book will have a last chapter.

01:57So, that made sense.

01:59So, I kind of picked myself up again.

02:01Let's do this book.

02:02So, I met Bonisa again.

02:03I already had Penguin backing me because they were, right from day one, they were very excited

02:07to do this book with her.

02:09So, then Bonisa said, okay, then just go and let's do this the way we had planned and that's

02:14how the journey began.

02:15I was very sure that this book should not be a hagiography.

02:18Like so many biographies tend to become at the end of the day.

02:21So, I mean, of course, I mean, one is fascinated.

02:25I mean, ultimately, you talk about Shri Devi.

02:27Let's just face it.

02:28So, you know, there's only so much bad that you can talk about someone like her who is

02:33almost great and flawless in everything that she does.

02:35But having said that, there were definitely aspects of her career that I have been critical

02:39about.

02:39I, from day one, had it in mind that this needs to be the definitive biography on her.

02:43I was very clear about that.

02:45For example, which is why if you see the book, it begins with her Southern career, which

02:48is something that very few people know about.

02:50Prior to coming to Bollywood in 1983, she had a two-decade-long career down South and

02:55what illustrious career with stalwarts like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan and, you know,

02:59in Telugu cinema with Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna and the kind of directors even now people

03:05down South feel that she had much better roles in Tamil cinema than she got in Hindi.

03:10And this is true to a certain extent if you see Tamil and Telugu work.

03:13Also, for me, very important was that Shri Devi when she came in the 80s, you know, she

03:17was one actress who broke the hierarchy that was there.

03:20She challenged patriarchy in a big way in Bollywood because 80s was not the kindest

03:25decade for actresses in Hindi cinema.

03:27How she became a force to reckon with, how she became bigger than all the heroes, which

03:31again was a very new phenomena in Bollywood for an actress becoming so powerful that she

03:36could call the shots in, you know, in a studio.

03:38So, all of that I wanted to be very clear in the book that that journey, how she inspired

03:42a whole generation.

03:43I mean, when she passed away and all the obituaries that came, everyone was like, thank you,

03:47Shri Devi, you inspired me to be a woman.

03:50And that was because of the way she, you know, she conducted her career and her life.

03:54So, that for me was a very important and integral part.

03:56I think that for me, that's the biggest takeaway of this book.

03:59That how she empowered women.

04:00I get that a lot as well.

04:02The moment you know that you've written a book on her, the first thing is asked, you

04:04know what happened in Dubai?

04:05I get that asked a lot as well.

04:07So, and I definitely wanted answers because that had to be the last chapter and I wanted

04:11some kind of a closure that I could.

04:14So, I spoke to Goni sir.

04:15I spoke to people that she was close to.

04:17And they've all given me a reason, which is there's nothing dramatic, nothing salacious

04:22about what happened, which is the version that I have got.

04:24And these are people who are credible voices.

04:26You know, these are, whether it's a family, whether it's someone like Nagarjuna, who is

04:30such a credible, superstar and credible voice down south or a director like Pankaj Parashar,

04:35who directed her in Chal Baaz.

04:36You know, those are people who have spent time with her, who know the kind of health

04:40issues that she was facing.

04:42And they have spoken about that, they have voiced their concerns.

04:44Like, for example, Pankaj Parashar told me that when they were doing the film with her

04:48after Chal Baaz, on the first day of the shooting, she did not turn up and they were all waiting

04:53for her on the set.

04:54And then news came that she had fainted in her bathroom.

04:56And so, Pankaj told me that when I heard about her death, immediately that memory immediately

05:02came back to me.

05:02So, she had always had low blood pressure issues, you know, throughout her career.

05:07And fainting spells for something that was very common to her.

05:10And like I said, this is not an investigative book where I go and investigate what happened.

05:13This is a book where for me also as an admirer, I wanted a closure like so many of her fans.

05:18And since these are credible voices telling me a story about her health issue, I put that

05:22in the book, which is what you will get in the book.

05:23And I really sincerely feel that is what we should leave it at that and we should not

05:27really investigate because I don't really think there was anything dramatic or melodramatic

05:31or controversial or anything about that.

05:34I think what happened was a very unfortunate accident.

05:37And yeah, we just have to leave it at that.

05:39This is a book that really talks about not just the star that we know and we love but

05:44also the woman, the person that she was behind that persona of hers and how she battled patriarchy,

05:50how she came to industry that was ruled by men and then how she became the number one

05:55star and how she started eclipsing her male heroes, I guess.

05:58That for me is a big, big takeaway.

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