THE SRIDEVI EFFECT

SRIDEVI LIVES ON THROUGH HER GEN Y PROGENY…OR DOES SHE? SANGEETA WADHWANI REVISIRS HER ENCOUNTER WITH THE SENSUAL DANSEUSE AND ACTRESS JAHNVI KAPOOR

“Whatever you do, you must give it your 100 per cent,” were the words of wisdom that Sridevi offered to her little brood of two daughters, Janhvi and Khushi.

My recent encounter with Janhvi Kapoor for the HELLO! cover story was such a fascinating showcase of a new generational dynamic in showbiz.

While in their mother’s day a young lady was discreet in love, attired with subtle sensuality (of course Sri’s almond-shaped eyes and blazing contours in her iconic blue saree rendition of ‘Kaati Nahi Kat Thi Ye Din Ye Raat’ performance in Mr India was sensuality amplified by Sri’s Southern oomph)…in Janhvi’s time your Kate Moss-inspired body speaks louder than your words and your Insta presence insists on a wardrobe that even royals of yore would blush before flaunting!

Today’s celeb-bachchas can figure out their facial angles, diets, endorsements, and possibly even how many more ‘takes’ they feel they need for a shot to click in their heart of hearts!

However, chatting with a fully scrubbed down and deglamourized Janhvi (minus the make-up arsenal with which she posed for our first cover shoot), in the comfort of her vanity van, one saw a little girl again, who had a sweetness and a sense of humility very reminiscent of her mom.

On set, Janhvi, while shooting Dhadak, admitted that she was not allowed to review her takes. Not all her reservations about how well she had put herself into the scene, were listened to. She had learned to trust in a director, Shashank Ghosh. Today, she counts him as one of her closest friends, along with co-star Ishaan and Karan Johar.

Is Janhvi as nuanced an actress as her mother, who embraced her character in Sadma right up to the housewife in English Vinglish with such fidelity, that somehow she melted right into them…and into her audience’s hearts. Is she? The question hangs over Janhvi’s head like the Domoclese sword… every time she dares to give a shot. Acting exposes her to a live assembly of technicians, professionals who have a history watching the long haul athletes of the craft.

But Janhvi is advantaged that way. She got golden insights into what makes a role, a film, outlive its time.

Janhvi admitted that Sridevi was a goddess in this art of total immersion into the life and world of another individual….and it had a spiritual dimension. “My mom had shared that to empathise with a character, you had to be open, be humble, be pure of heart. You can’t be carrying bitterness or frustration around. Acting to mom, was like breathing. I don’t think there was any method to it for her, it was instinctive. You know how are bodies know how to breathe… her body knew how to act. She would watch something or read a script, and just break it down in her head.”

The family had seen it’s share of ups and downs financially, and this too, has clearly shaped the young actress. She will never take a producer’s money for granted and move around with an expensive entourage of personal spot boys, make up and hair people, secretaries…and what have you. At least that is the way it looks now, with Janhvi having witnessed the kind of time-finance vampires stars in Bollywood easily become.

An actress’s networth is so tied up with screen presence, (And Sri had once shared in a candid moment, ‘ I am toh ready to be size zero!:’))…that I was highly amused when Janhvi shared that she was struggling to PUT ON WEIGHT!

“I am supposed to have two spoons of ghee every morning…That’s my problem..putting on weight. I am supposed to gain five kilos for my next role…and have to eat SEVERAL times a day. Earlier, weight training helped me gain weight. But after a back injury, every exercise form was making me loose weight!”

Therein lies a struggle…

I left Janhvi feeling I have just met a little girl who misses her mom dearly, a little girl who may seem to have the world potentially at her feet, but who will still be looking up to the statuesque legacy of her immortal ma Sri, goddess of the hearth and the hearts of millions.

It may be a year since Sridevi mysteriously drowned in a bath tub…a year already….but she lives on also in the temple she had set up in the Kapoor home, the same temple that Janhvi’s father went to offer a prayer of thanks after seeing Dhadak, with tears in his eyes.

For a little girl who has grown up around the movies, this was the ultimate affirmation that her performance had touched her daddy dearest. Janhvi the actress, had arrived….in her very own home.