On August 13, Sridevi would have turned 62. Without a shadow of a doubt, she would have been as relevant at 70 as she was when at 34 when she married Boney Kapoor. Ram Gopal Varma, one of the millions of diehard Sri fans, had gone into mourning after the wedding.
Recalls Ramu, “I was quite heartbroken. I think 75 percent of the male population in India was heartbroken after she got married. Like your favourite Lata Mangeshkar, there will never be another Sridevi. She was perfect in every sense, flawless in her comic timing, incomparable in dramatic scenes, electric in her dancing. I got to direct her only once, in Kshanam Kshanam. It was more than enough proof what she could do. For every scene she had 15–20 interpretations and expressions. Working with her was like staying at a 7-star hotel. You were spoilt for life.”
He recalls his first meeting with Sridevi. “I had gone to meet her at her residence in Chennai to sign her for a film. I was sitting in the living room with her mother, while Sridevi just flitted in and out of the room, as she was packing to catch a flight. Every time she came into the room it was like a sudden rush of fresh invigorating breeze.”
Ramu has a birthday wish. “I want her to come back to earth again. Just once. So that humanity would know she really existed.”
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