Before Janhvi Kapoor's Dhadak Releases, Let's Take A Look Back At Sridevi's Hindi Debut!

The Common Thing Between Janhvi Kapoor & Sridevi's First Break In Bollywood

While Janhvi Kapoor's debut 'Dhadak' is an official remake of the Marathi blockbuster 'Sairat', Sridevi's first Bollywood film 'Solva Sawan' was a remake of a Tamil film 'Pathinaru Vayathinile'. Interestingly Sridevi played the female lead in the original film as well. Before Solva Sawan, Sridevi had appeared as a child actor in the smash-hit Julie which released in 1975.

Sridevi Was Skeptical Of Bollywood

Solva Sawan director Bharathiraja recalled in an interview, "There are a lot of actresses who forayed into Bollywood and other industries and disappeared without a trace. But Sridevi was an exception. She ruled all the film industries during her heydays. Today, I can proudly say that I'm the one who introduced her in Bollywood through Solva Sawan where she shared the screen with Amol Palekar. When I told her about the remake idea, she was skeptical and refused to set foot in Hindi cinema. Then I promised her that I would take care of everything and convinced her to do the film. She later climbed up the ladder of Bollywood through her relentless hard work and extraordinary talent."

Years later, the actress wasn't impressed when she learnt about her daughter Janhvi's acting aspirations and asked her to reconsider her decision. Janhvi recently recalled in an interview, " She never wanted me to be an actress. She was more relaxed about Khushi getting into films. She thought I was naïve, that I wasn't thick-skinned enough. She wanted us to live a more relaxed life. She loved what she did but you know it was intense."

How Janhvi & Sridevi Landed Their Respective Debut Films

Speaking about how Dhadak happened, Janhvi recently revealed, "Karan (Johar) had come home after Manish Malhotra suggested he should meet me. Manish was the first person who thought I was capable of becoming an actor. Even before I could think of it, he asked me to consider it. Then, Karan came home, we had a brief meeting and he asked me to meet him at his office. I did readings with him - I would read poetry and act out scenes. Then, Dhadak happened."

On the other hand, Sridevi wasn't interested in foraying into Bollywood. But director Bharathiraja eventually convinced her to give it a shot. Her Solva Sawan co-star Amol Palekar revealed in a TOI interview, "Kamal (Haasan) called me and told me about 'Pathinaru Vayathinile' which needed a Hindi remake. He said only I could do the lead role. I watched the original and said Sridevi must act in the Hindi remake too. So, I met her at her residence."

What's In The Plot?

Solva Sawan revolved around a young educated girl (Sridevi) who falls for a vet and sacrifices her dream of being a teacher. Meanwhile Amol Palekar plays a physically-handicapped orphan who is besotted with her. The film revolved around how Sridevi's character gets a new perspective on life after the vet shuns her for refusing to commit to him.

Dhadak revolves around first love set against the backdrop of casteism and honour killings.

Co-Stars Speak

Speaking about Janhvi, her co-star Ishaan Khatter said, " The first time I met Janhvi on the sets, I took her to watch La La Land, because she hadn't seen it. Soon, we started bonding over cinema - both of us are film buffs - and we realised we share a natural equation.She brings a smile to people's faces. She is dedicated, sincere, curious and is passionate about acting. She is unintentionally funny sometimes."

Sridevi's first Hindi film co-star Amol Palekar recalled, "We forged a good friendship. She was extremely young, and I still remember how shy and guarded she was, as she was not very comfortable speaking English."

Box Office Performance

Unfortunately Sridevi's debut 'Solva Sawan' flopped miserably at the box office. Speaking about it, the late actress had once said in an interview, "Solva Saawan was and still is a bad memory. I had earlier done the Tamil and Telugu versions of the same film, so by the time I got to the Hindi version, I was bored sick! One vivid memory of the film is my messing up the first take on the first day of shooting, which I'm very superstitious about. I knew then, that the film would be a flop."

Meanwhile, the fate of Janhvi's debut movie is yet to be sealed.