Jaya Prada Opens Up About Her Rivalry With Sridevi On A Popular Talk Show
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The entertainment world is a very interesting industry. It’s often a dog eat dog place and truly showcases the survival of the fittest, and in this case, the more talented. Like many leading ladies in the industry, Jaya Prada and Sridevi too were often pitted against one another to the point where they ended up sharing an immense rivalry. While Sridevi, unfortunately met her untimely demise in early February 2018, Jaya remained inactive and quiet as the years passed. However, she recently went onto a popular Hindi television show and revealed certain secrets of her rivalry with Sridevi that had never been revealed before. Here is what she had to say:
Sisters On Screen, Rivals Off Screen
Jaya had revealed that there was an intense rivalry between both women as they were both at the top of their careers and she spoke about how they saw each other as equal competition. Both ladies were extremely talented dancers and according to Jaya, that was a contention point as well. We can imagine how much the media probably fueled the rivalry with their tabloid talk during this time. What’s more was that both actresses started their relationship with the entertainment world through the South Indian film industry.
She revealed how once, their co-actor Jitendra locked Sridevi and her in a room and asked them to hash out their differences. Oddly enough, despite being extremely hungry, neither actresses spoke to each other for the entire hour that they were locked inside. Eventually when Jitendra let them out, they quickly parted ways and headed in the opposite directions. We can understand why Jaya and her would not get along. Sridevi truly was a phenomenally talented actress and was loved by everyone for her incredible skills.
Jaya even said, “We were sisters on screen but off camera we used to sit in different corners on the set. We never used to look each other in the eye.” She tearfully stated that she missed Sridevi and was devastated to find out about her passing on. The pair made around nine films together so we can imagine that there were a lot of awkward moments on the film sets. Jaya was no less, however. Despite being of a small frame of only 5’2, she was known for her incredibly beautiful face and even the famed Bengali director, Satyajit Ray was once quoted as saying, “The most beautiful face on the Indian screen”.
Dancing Together
During one of their films, the pair even danced together in synchronised steps. However, many saw it as a battle and a dance off between the leading ladies. In their film Maqsad, the two women dance together in the song, Ajao Nagraja Tum Ajao. We see them matching each other’s steps with furious energy and mesmerize us with their incredible skills and talent. Wearing contrasting azul and blush pink sarees, we see Sridevi and Jaya’s steps meet the tempo of the beats and their expressions shift into different emotional states.
Although Jaya had a bright start to her career, at some point she started getting a little overshadowed by her competition. Sridevi emerged as the victor and the leading lady after she delivered back to back hits. Unfortunately, she also became the ridicule of the tabloids and many coined the nickname “thunder thighs” to describe her voluptuous figure. While this body type is praised currently, back in those days actresses were expected to be stick figure thin and super petite. Sridevi, who was quite taller than many contemporary actresses did not necessarily fit the bill.
By the mid 80s and the early 90s, Sridevi was at the top of her game and had managed to outshine Jaya tremendously. However, Sridevi too gave into the thinner look craze and lost a little bit of her innocent girl-next-door charm when she slimmed down considerably in the 90s. Soon however, the next leading lady came into the picture and Sridevi found herself at odds with her. When Madhuri Dixit entered the picture, many saw Sridevi facing a lot of competition during this time. One of Sridevi’s biggest weaknesses was her poor Hindi diction. However, she still bagged quite a few roles before she finally decided to go on hiatus and start a family (1).
We live in a world where women are often pitted against one another even without there actually being a rivalry. “Catfights” between leading actresses were unfortunately quite common in the entertainment industry and mainly fueled by paparazzi and tabloids. However, many have decided to hash out their differences and change that lately. From Kareena and Priyanka ending their feud to Katrina and Deepika forging a friendly relationship, anything is possible in Bollywood. And let’s not forget that feuds aren’t just common among leading ladies but leading men as well. The only difference is that there is no term like “catfight” tagged for them (wink). Do let us know all of your thoughts on this article in the comment section below!
