Director Shekhar Kapur went down memory lane and remembered the late actsor Sri Devi, with whom he worked in the classic film Mr India (1987).
Kapur shared a throwback picture featuring the actor on his Instagram handle on Sunday. It was from the first day of the film's shoot. Calling her a star, Kapur said he was mesmerised by Sri Devi's dance while shooting the film.
"This was my first day of shoot with Sridevi ever. We were shooting a song in Mahabaleshwar. And when she started to dance the world stopped for all of us the only thing that moved was Sri Devi dancing. We all just gawked. It was like another being had descended amongst us. and I even forgot to say Cut ! Like everyone else in the set ' We were too mesmerised by Sridevi's dancing," he wrote in the caption.
The filmmaker noted how Sri Devi was "fiercely loyal" and was standing tall and ready to protect the film even when it was getting into "trouble".
"There were other things about Sridevi that are not spoken about ' that she was fiercely loyal ' When the film got into trouble .. she would take any chance she got to protect me .. speak about how incredible I was .. she took it upon herself to fiercely protect her Director," he wrote.
"Yet behind her stardom ' behind her incredible talent .. lay such innocence .. such vulnerability. And she would use not only her talent to perform .. but bring to it her vulnerability and innocence to it too. As if the only person she would express her inner feelings to was the camera ' her protector in a way," he added.
Kapur concluded by saying Sri Devi, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 54, was never afraid to represent her inner self in front of the camera. "That's why she was such a star ' she was not afraid to reveal her inner self to the Camera,” he said.
Mr India released in 1987. It also featured Anil Kapoor in the lead role. The film revolved around Kapoor's character, Arun, who lives with orphaned children and is harassed by a gangster who is after his house.
After one of the children dies, he decides to fight back and takes the help of his father's invention, an invisibility watch.
The film went on to emerge as a commercial hit in India and was the second-highest-grossing film of 1987. It earned over Rs 100 million at the worldwide box office.
