Media Was Mean To Sridevi When She Entered Bollywood; She Was Called 'Arrogant' & Got Body-shamed

Why Sridevi Considered Himmatwala Her Bad Luck?

"In Tamil films, they love to see me act naturally. But in Hindi films they want a lot of glamour, richness and masala. My bad luck was that my first big hit in Hindi films turned out to be a commercial one ('Himmatwala')."

"When I did a character role in 'Sadma', the picture flopped. So people started casting me only for glamour roles. But one day I'm going to prove to everyone that I can act also," said the actor, as quoted in the book.

Sridevi Proved Her Versatility With Mr India

Sridevi, as written by journalist-author Lalita Iyer, soon with her widely-acclaimed cult classic Mr India (1987) proved her versatility as a 'pan-India' actor.

"Mr India' was the year's best film and a riot at box office; it had something for everyone, and was one of her most lovable performances. Sridevi had finally proved to Hindi cinemathat she was more than just a box office draw," Iyer mentions in the book.

Sridevi Made An Entry When People Were Tired Of Amitabh Bachchan's Angry Man Image

The author, who is an unabashed Sridevi fan, calls her the 'Hero No 1' of the 80s, a period when, as per her, the Hindi film industry was going through a low phase and there was no real contender for the No 1 hero position, even less so for a heroine.

"People were tired of Amitabh Bachchan's angry young man persona and his films were not doing well... The angry man and his stunt-based films had largely killed music. Sridevi couldn't have chosen a better moment to enter Hindi films," claimed the author.

From Being Ridiculed To Body-Shamed, Sridevi Faced It All

Though the book, which in Iyer's own admission, is not a tell-all tale but a tribute to the actor does mention about her struggle, be it 'body shaming' or 'being ridiculed' during the dubbing of the film, as she was not fluent in most of the languages.

Why Media Found Sridevi Arrogant?

According to the author, Sridevi's language barrier led to a certain guardedness or aloofness on the sets, which people construed as arrogance.

"All through the 1980s, when her career was an all time high, she was a fortress that journalists could not breach. She spoke very little and mostly answered in mono-syllables."

Media Was Mean To Sridevi

"The media was not very kind to her. They called her 'thunder thighs' and ask Mummy' because most of her answers were either ask Mummy' or yes' or no," reads the book.

Ironically, it was the biggest blockbuster of 1983 "Himmatwala" only that earned Sridevi the moniker of thunder thighs, thanks to her whip-cracking scenes in leather leotards, Iyer writes.

However, Post Himmatwala Sridevi Never Looked Back

However, like the author notes, it was Himmatwala only that got her a dozen more films at the price she commanded.

Published by Westland and priced at Rs 399, Sridevi: Queen Of Hearts foreword is written by Adil Hussain, who played the actor's husband in the 2012's superhit family comedy-drama English Vinglish.