Happy birthday Sridevi; Google doodle tributes to Sridevi on her 60th birthday

HYDERABAD: Google Doodle on August 13, 2023, celebrated the most iconic actress Sridevi’s 60th birthday covering her four-decade-long illustrious acting career.

Illustrated by Mumbai-based guest artist Bhumika Mukherjee, Doodle recalled the career of Sridevi in nearly three hundred movies over the course of four decades. “Sridevi made Bollywood’s sweeping dramas and comedies shine, oftentimes without a male counterpart in a traditionally male-dominated industry,” the Doodle said.

Sridevi’s full name was Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan, and she was born in a small Tamil Nadu village called Meenampatti on August 13, 1963. She fell in love with movies as a child and started acting at four years old in the Tamil mythological movie, ‘Kandhan Karunai’. Sridevi learned to speak multiple south Indian languages, which allowed her to break into India’s other film industries. Early in her career, she acted in a variety of genres and across multiple film industries, including Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam movies.

National Recognition

In 1976, Sridevi gained national recognition as the protagonist in K. Balachander's ‘Moondru Mudichu’. After the film’s success, she and her co-stars including Kamal Hasan became even more famous with a string of hit films like ‘Guru’ and ‘Sankarlal’. Widely considered the star of Tamil cinema at the time, Sridevi’s on-screen charisma garnered attention from producers from the Hindi-speaking film industry as well.

Enter Bollywood

After playing the lead role in the action comedy Himmatwala, Sridevi established herself as a national icon and box-office attraction in Bollywood. Over the next decade, Sridevi starred in hits like the romantic drama film Sadma and the comedy ChaalBaz. She remains one of the only Bollywood actresses to headline blockbuster movies without a male actor in an industry that was traditionally male-dominated.

English Vinglish

She took a break from acting in 2000 and worked for television shows like Malini and Kaboom. She then joined the Asian Academy of Film and Television board of directors. In 2012, she announced her comeback with Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish; marking her successful return as a leading lady in Bollywood after a long hiatus. The Indian government also honoured her with the Padma Shri. In 2017, Sridevi starred in the crime thriller Mom as a rage-filled and protective mother, earning her the National Film Award as best actress.

Paying rich tributes to Sridevi, Doodle said “Sridevi forever made her mark on the film industry by charting new avenues for women to take on leading roles in Indian cinema. She will be remembered as one of the greatest Indian actors of her time.”

Untimely demise

Sridevi died on February 24, 2018, in the Jumeirah Emirates Tower in Dubai. Her husband Boney Kapoor found her dead in her hotel room bathtub. Her death sparked a major mystery when the cause of her death was determined as an accidental drowning, while earlier her death was termed as a case of cardiac arrest.