Remembering Sridevi: Five best performances of the ‘Mayilu’ of Tamil cinema

Veteran actress Sridevi passed away earlier this year due to accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub after losing consciousness. Her untimely demise left the entire nation in a deep state of shock. Sridevi has left behind a legacy that is hard to replace. Starting off as a child artist, Sridevi was known for her successful collaboration with actors Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. In fact, she had starred in several blockbusters films in Tamil long before she became a ‘Superstar’ in Bollywood. Sridevi made a comeback in Tamil with 'Puli' in 2015, which also remains to be her last Tamil film. On her 55th birthday today, we look back at some of Sridevi’s best performances in Tamil cinema.

After appearing as a child artist in many films, ‘Moondru Mudichu’ was Sridevi’s first adult role, which became an important film for Sridevi and Rajinikanth. The film directed by K Balachander tells the story of college girl Selvi (Sridevi), who falls in love with Balaji (Kamal Haasan). A little later, she discovers that Balaji’s friend Prasath (Rajinikanth) is secretly in love with her. The story takes a drastic turn after Prasath kills his own friend Balaji for Selvi. Upon release, ‘Moondru Mudichu’ became successful at the box office. It was widely appreciated for a superb performance by Sridevi and Rajinikanth. In the Malayalam version, Kamal Haasan played the anti-hero character. The song ‘Vasantha Kaala’ became a huge hit at that time.

‘16 Vayathinile’, which marked the coming together of Kamal Haasan, Sridevi and Rajinikanth, became a landmark film in the history of Tamil cinema. ‘16 Vayathinile’, directed by Bharathiraja, is the story about a sixteen-year-old Mayilu (Sridevi) and focuses on her vulnerabilities. Apart from Sridevi, the film is still remembered for a stellar performance by actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, who play Parattai and Chappani respectively. ‘16 Vayathinile’ remains to be one of Sridevi’s best performance till date. The songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja became a smash hit, especially ‘Senthoora Poove’. ‘16 Vayathinile’ was extremely successful at the box office and has achieved a cult status over the years. The film went on to win several accolades after its release.

Following the commercial success of ‘16 Vayathinile’, Kamal Haasan and Sridevi reunited for Bharathiraja’s ‘Sigappu Rojakkal’, a psychological thriller that tells the story of a psychopath Dileep (Kamal Haasan), who kidnaps women and kills them. He meets Sarada (Sridevi) at a textile shop and falls in love with her. Dileep tries to kill Sarada after she finds out about his past. Based on the life story of Raman Raghav, the film became an out-and-out money spinner at the box office. ‘Sigappu Rojakkal’ opened to glowing reviews when it release in 1978. Particularly, the performances of both Kamal and Sridevi were highly lauded. After its stupendous success, the film was later remade in Hindi as ‘Red Rose’ with Rajesh Khanna in the lead.

Kamal Haasan and Sridevi have worked in most number of films together. ‘’Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu’, directed by K Balachander, dealt with the rampant unemployment issue in the ‘80s. Kamal Haasan played the angry young man Rangan, while Sridevi played his girlfriend Devi, who are struck by poverty. After the success of the film, ‘Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu’ was remade in other languages. Even today, the film is cherished by fans mainly for the song ‘Sippi Irukkuthu’. ‘Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu’ became a trendsetter and several films were made on the similar lines. Needless to say, Sridevi gave one of her memorable performances in this one too.

‘Moondram Pirai’ is arguably one of the best performances of Sridevi ever. It tells the story of Bhagyalakshmi/ Viji (Sridevi), who suffers from retrograde amnesia. She gets rescued by Cheenu (Kamal Haasan) from a brothel. The rest of the film is a heartwarming love story between Cheenu and Viji. Upon release, the distributing climax of the film left the audience in teary-eyed. Directed by filmmaker Balu Mahendra, ‘Moondram Pirai’ received overwhelming response from the audience. It was later remade in Hindi as ‘Sadma’ that became a huge hit at the box office. Over the years, ‘Sadma’ has earned a cult following especially for its climax sequence. Both Kamal Haasan and Sridevi were appreciated for their respective characters in the film. After Sridevi’s demise, Kamal released an emotional video reminiscing his ‘Sadma’ days.