Sridevi, a renowned Indian actress, was born on August 13, 1963, in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, India, to a father from her hometown and a mother from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. Growing up, she was fluent in Telugu and Tamil, and had a sister named Srilatha and a stepbrother named Satish. Her father passed away in 1991, and her mother in 1997.
Sridevi began her acting career at a tender age of four in the 1967 Tamil movie 'Kandhan Karunai'. She also appeared as a child actress in a Telugu movie 'Bangarakka' in 1977 and a Malayalam movie 'Kumara Sambhavan' in 1969. Her first Bollywood film was the 1975 movie 'Julie', where she played the younger sister of the lead actress.
Sridevi's breakthrough in Hindi films came in the late 1970s, and she went on to act in 63 movies in Hindi, 62 in Telugu, 58 in Tamil, and 21 in Malayalam, spanning a career from 1967 to 2007. She established herself as a strong on-screen pair with Kamal Haasan in Tamil films from 1977 to 1983, and later with Jeetendra in Hindi films from 1983 to 1988.
Sridevi's initial claim to fame was her romantic roles opposite established stars NTR, ANR, Krishna Ghattamaneni, and Vishnuvardhan in Telugu and Kannada films from 1978 to 1985. She then paired with Rajesh Khanna and later with Anil Kapoor, becoming a popular actress in India. Her success in Tamil films' remakes in Hindi from 1983 to 1990, opposite Rajesh Khanna or Jeetendra, cemented her position as a leading actress.
Apart from her film career, Sridevi also appeared in the TV series 'Malini Iyer', judged the TV show 'Kaboom', and appeared in numerous print and TV ads. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Asian Academy of Film & Television.
Sridevi married her co-star, Anil Kapoor's older brother, Boney, on June 2, 1996, and they have two daughters, Jhanvi and Khushi. After a hiatus from films, she made a comeback with the 2012 movie 'English Vinglish'.
Tragically, Sridevi passed away on February 24, 2018, at the age of 54, due to accidental drowning in a bathtub during her stay at the hotel Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai, UAE, while attending the wedding of Bollywood actor Mohit Marwah.
