Director Shekhar Kapur, on the occasion of late actress Sridevi's 60th birth anniversary, took a walk down memory lane. On August 13, while wishing the legend, the filmmaker wrote a detailed note, revealing a behind-the-scenes incident connected to the 1987 film's hit track Kate Nahin Kat Te. Shekhar Kapur dropped a beautiful still of Sridevi, wearing the iconic blue chiffon saree, from the music video, and claimed that the two promised each other to collaborate on “at least one more film, after Mr India, if not more”. The filmmaker began his moving post by saying, “Happy Birthday Sridevi … wherever you are . We promised each other at least one more film, after Mr India, if not more. But you left us. Left us with broken hearts and amazing memories.”
Recalling the filming days of Kate Nahin Kat Te, Shekhar Kapur revealed that Sridevi was trying to hide from him as she was “in numbing pain” due to a “high fever”. He added that even after the entire Mr India crew advised her to rest, Sridevi made Kate Nahin Kat Te choreographer late Saroj Khan “swear” that she wouldn't reveal her health condition to the director. Shekhar Kapur only got to know about Sridevi's health condition after they finished shooting for the iconic song. Shekhar Kapur added, “I remember the days we were filming this iconic song, the iconic image of ‘I Love you'... you hid from me that you were running a high fever… and you were in numbing pain... That everyone advised you to rest, and certainly not allow yourself to get wet, that you could land up being seriously ill... I only found out from our choreographer Saroj Khan after we had finished shooting. You made her swear she wouldn't tell me...
The filmmaker added, “I remember the days we shot, take after take, day after day. And you would come up to me after every shot...‘It's ok na ?... you sure ... pucca? Shall we do it again? I can see in your eyes you are not fully satisfied'. And all the time you were burning with fever and in a lot of pain…That's what you did throughout Mr India…you had that instinct of knowing whether I was completely happy with your shot or not…even with a flick of my eyes…”
Shekhar Kapur revealed that the legendary actress would see in the eyes of the director whether he is happy with the shot or not. Shekhar Kapur said, “You would search in my eyes to see if there was a hint of a doubt... so no wonder your performance in Mr India still stands out as one of the most iconic performances in Hindi films of all time…We miss you, Sri…”
Starring Anil Kapoor and Sridevi in lead roles, Mr India remains one of the biggest crowd-pullers in Indian film history. The film, which was released in May 1987, also featured Satish Kaushik and Amrish Puri. Mr India marked Shekhar Kapur's second directorial project after the 1983 film Masoom.
Sridevi died in 2018. She is survived by her husband Boney Kapoor and two daughters Khushi Kapoor and Janhvi Kapoor.
