Sorry if I raised a lot of expectations. This is a decade old interview. I just
put it to refresh our memories.

Sri's interview from Filmfare.


Q : At present you have only four films in hand. How come?
Sri: Believe me, its out of choice. I dont know why some directors are going
around claiming that I am doing their films. I cant understand how this industry
functions. How can they talk like that? I have turned down 15 offers because I
have understood the need to be selective. Earlier I'd take on a film on the
basis of the character I was asked to play but now I know that the entire
project is important - the producer, the director, the story and the
script. I may have been a littlr careless earlier. But I've never ever
signed on each and every film offered to me. I have a very unusual role
in Laadla which will be my next release

Q : Is it true that Boney Kapoor persuaded producer Nitin Manmohan to sign you
for Laadla after Divya Bharathi's death?
Sri: Really? Who told you that? All I can say is that I was approached for the
film's Telugu version Gharana Mogudu but I turned it down because I was confused
about the character they wanted me to potray. Again I was Nitin Manmohan's first
choice for the Hindi version. I could not say "Yes" because of dates. So Divya
was signed. After her tragic death, I was approached again. Since I was the
original choice anyway I don't think anybody did any kind of lobbying on my
behalf. It's true that the producer brought Boneyji along when he came to
request me to reconsider his offer.

Q : Why did you reconsider a project in which you had found your character
confusing?
Sri: Because the character had been much more sharply defined in the Hindi
version. I play a tough and arrogant woman. Its a role with plenty of
potential.

Q : Something on the lines of the role of the no-nonsense sister in Chaalbaaz?
Sri: That was a fun-loving character who starts drinking the minute she's upset.
In Laadla I'm very disciplined.

Q : Do you have high expectations for Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahi?
Sri: Of course, I do. I play a housewife. There are many touching as well as
comic scenes. I speak in the Bhojpuri dialect throughout the film. Just two more
schedules and it should be complete.

Q : You are working with Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. Do you feel comfortable
working with these heroes?
Sri: What are you implying? That you are mismatched? Hardly! I can't
help if I have been working since I was a child.. I just happen to have more
experience than them. There could have been objections only if they were younger
than me... Moreover I haven't gone out of my way to make producers pair them
with me.

Q : Whatever happened to cameraman-director Manmohan Singh's Tirandaaz in
which you have been cast opposite Sunny Deol?
Sri: None of us were quite happy with the subject, so we are trying to
improve on it. That will perhaps take another couple of months and only then
will the project get going.


Q : Why have you been replaced by Juhi Chawla in Rakesh Roshan's film Koi Jeeta
Koi Haara?
Sri: The subject didn't appeal to me.

Q : I believe you refused to wear a swimming costume for the film.
Sri: That's only one of the reasons for turning down the film. I am not
comfortable in a swimming costume; when I feel awkward its bound to be captured
by the camera. I wouldn't be able to do justice to such a scene. But the
director was adamant about the scene - the hero visualising the heroine in a
swimming costume. Instead of creating problems for the director later, I
declined right away. Who knows he may have required other such scenes as well. I
will never make such compromises.

Q : But you have worn swimsuits earlier...
Sri: In Himmatwala I merely stood around in a swimsuit and in Karma I
immediately put on my robe. I felt uneasy doing these scenes... In fact I'd like
to make one point clear - I am not desperate for roles. If I was I wouldn't be
turning down offers. I am not interested in light inconsequential roles, surely
I can do much more than sing and dance.

Q : What news about Sapnon Ka Saudagar with Anil Kapoor?
Sri: They're thinking of changing the title. The film was supposed to start in
January but now it will begin in March.

Q : Tradewallahs say that Juhi has replaced you in the film.
Sri: Why should she? I haven't been asked to wear a swimming costume in the
film!

Q : What do you have to say about Yash Chopra giving Juhi the Sridevi look in
Darr?
Sri: Is that right? I'm surprised. I'm happy for Yashji since the film is
doing well. I haven't seen Darr but Juhi looks very pretty in the excerpts I
have seen on television. If Yashji has given her... as you call it... the
Sridevi look, I don't see anything wrong in that.

Q : Any negative reactions from your fans lately?
Sri: Yes, they didn't react well to Chandramukhi. I've received so much flak for
it. Everyone wants to know why I did the project, they say I was wasted.

Q : Do they also say that your performances are getting monotonous... that
you are repeating yourself?
Sri: That's unfair! My performances in Lamhe, Khuda Gawah and Gumrah are
all very different and I was appreciated by the audience as well as the critics.

Q : Have you recovered from the debacle of Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka
Raja?
Sri: I admit that I played the typical Hindi film heroine in Roop Ki Rani
Choron Ka Raja...what else could I do when there was no scope for anything else?
It was four years in the making-when a film stretches things are bound to go
haywire. No single person can be blamed for it.

Q : Why have you returned in a big way to Telugu films?
Sri: I have seen headlines screaming "Sridevi's comeback to Telugu
films!" What comeback?, I'd like to ask. I've been doing a Telugu film
annually for the last six years. Since it's my mother tongue I like to keep in
touch.

Q : Even when your South films arent doing too well there?
Sri: Says who? My last release - Govinda Govinda with Nagarjuna - is doing well
in the cities. Since the subject didn't have mass appeal, it failed in the rural
areas. Such things happen.

Q : Wouldn't it be prudent to reduce your price at this jucture?
Sri: But I have never given too much importance to price. My fee has always
varied according to the setup and I'll continue to work like that. If my price
has been a sore point for the producers, they would have stopped approaching me.

Q : Why did you have a tiff with Saroj Khan who's choreographed some
of your best dances?
Sri: We never had any problems. Saawan Kumarji was upset when she couldn't make
it for an entire dance schedule. I did try to persuade him to take her on again
but he was reluctant. I didn't think it would be wise on my part to keep
insisting beyond a point. Sarojji and I will probably be working together in
Meri Biwi Ka Jawab Nahi

Q : Werent you upset with her because you felt she was working
harder on Madhuri Dixit's dances?
Sri: Dont be absurd.

Q : What if the dance masters asked you to do some specially provocative
movements?
Sri: They wouldn't dare. When they are working out the steps, they keep
watching my reaction, they know exactly what I'll do and what I won't.

Q : Do you regret doing any roles?
Sri: Even if I do, do you think I'd name them? Seriously, sometimes a
role doesn't come up to your expectations. That's it, you are helpless

Q : What's your dream role?
Sri: I do have a dream role but I will never have the guts to do it. It's the
role Julia Roberts played in Pretty Woman, which was cute. Pankaj Parashar
wanted to do a remake but when I backed out, the project was dropped.

Q : Who's your favourite actress?
Sri: Meryl Streep. She was so good in She-Devil, Heartburn and Death Becomes
Her. She stands out even in an average filem.

Q : Do you ever research your roles?
Sri: No, I'm absolutely spontaneous! If the director asks me to repeat something
in a second take it's just not possible. I can try to imitate the first take but
it wont be the same. I rarely need rehearsals. The crying and screaming scenes
in Khuda Gawah and Gumrah were all straight takes. We even improvised on the
sets for Chaalbaaz and Gumrah.

Q : What do you see yourself doing ten years from now?
Sri: What's the time now?

Q : It's almost noon.
Sri: I see myself packing lunch to send to my children at school.

Q : When are you planning to get married?
Sri: The day I find the right man. The bechara fellow still has to come my
way. He has no idea of what's in store for him because I'm very possesive.

Q : What's your ideal man like?
Sri: Simple, down to earth. He shouldn't be talkative at all. Looks are
important but I don't like greek gods who can be heartless. A pleasant looking
man, a loving guy will be just fine. And he must be tall so that I can wear my
high heels. I've asked my mother to be on the lookout for someone but she's fed
up of trying. She pesters me to go out and meet people more often. I guess I'll
just wait for the right man to materialise. Like magic.

Q : How do you spend your second Sundays-the one offday in show-town.
Sri: I sleep late, loaf around in the house. Sometimes my family comes from
Madras and we make plans to live it up but somehow things just don't happen. At
most, I go to a health club.

Q : Is that the secret of your trim figure?
Sri: Right now I've put on weight. But I'm lucky... my body's very flexible. I
love sweets. I can't go without icecreams and milkshakes every day. So when I
find my face rounder than it should be, I only eat boiled food and I'm back to
normal in four days. In the rain song in Lamhe, Megha re megha, I was fat and
paunchy but in the jazz song, Moments of Rage, which was shot four days later, I
was slim.


Q : There were rumors that you went in for liposuction
Sri: Even when I wanted to, my mother would never allow it. Forget surgery, I'm
scared of injections! See this small swelling on my lip? Though it doesn't show
in films, its very prominent in photographs. I got it when I fainted in the
bathroom after a hectic work schedule. Doctors say it can be cured through
surgery but I keep putting it off. If I can carry this on my face for so long,
how can I even think of liposuction? Who starts these rumors? They make me feel
funny and sad... I don't know whether to laugh or cry!