Today, 24th February, marks three years since one of world cinema’s greatest legends, Sridevi, bid farewell to the world. On the occasion of her death anniversary, Sridevi’s English Vinglish director, Gauri Shinde, opened her heart out in a conversation with Times of India.
Gauri Shinde said, “I’ll never forget my first meeting with Sridevi. It was more like a blind date for both of us because we were meeting for the first time. She didn’t know much about me, other than that I was Balki’s wife. I call it a blind date because we really fell in love with each other. Sometimes you meet certain people, and you feel an instant click. It was that. As if our souls were just meant to meet, and to do something together, however dramatic it may sound. I absolutely love her; I don’t say this because she is a star and I am in awe, but because I really liked her soul.”
Shinde further said, “For the meeting, she had worn an orange shirt paired with white pants and no makeup at all which made her look like a normal person, which she’s not. After building a rapport over a cup of tea, I narrated the script to her. As a writer, when you narrate a script, you are attuned to the reactions too, and immediately know when someone actually connects to your story; It’s a different feeling. From her eyes, gestures, and smile, I could see that she got it. There was a different sort of connection between us and we both felt it. And at the end of my narration, she said, ‘Gauri, I really love it. I don’t know about you, but I want to do it. It’s a ‘yes’ from me.’ The moment she said that I was so thrilled!”
