Kanchu Kagada (Scene to Scene)

Sridevi started cutting down on her assignments down South. For the first time in her career, she did not have a single Tamil release in 1984. She starred in four Telugu films this year, out of which the adventure tale Kanchu Kagada stands out. Starring as Durga opposite Krishna, the actress's Sholay-like introduction scene presents her as a Gabbar-esque leader of a bandit pack. But before you can utter femme fatale, a rifle goes off and Durga quakes, her face exposing her false bravado. She is especially funny in a scene where her façade slowly collapses as Krishna advances towards her menacingly. There's also a Sholay-inspired sequence with Krishna tied up and Sridevi dancing before the villains. But the mood is again wacky with the actress deliberately tempting the goons in a Mohini-like avatar. If she is agile when executing crazy stunts, she is fierce when axing a man to death.