Southern Sojourn

AMBORISH ROYCHOUDHURY'S SRIDEVI: THE SOUTH YEARS THROWS LIGHT ON THE ACTOR'S EARLY YEARS OF STARDOM BEFORE SHE MADE IT EVEN BIGGER IN BOLLYWOOD

- Juhi Saklani

SRIDEVI The South Years by Amborish Roychoudhury RUPA ₹395; 216 pages

When 13-year-old Sridevi did her first full-fledged role as a Tamil film heroine in Moondru Mudichu (1976), in terms of experience, she was already senior to co-actors Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. She had seven years of acting behind her, while Haasan had six (three as a child actor) and Rajinikanth had barely begun. Sridevi—at 13, I remind you—played the 18-year-old vengeful stepmother of the villain Rajinikanth.

Amborish Roychoudhury’s