35th Filmfare Awards

The 35th Filmfare Awards took place at Centaur at the end of 1990. Sridevi had already been deprived of sure-fire Best Actress trophies for Nagina and Mr. India since the ceremony had not been able to held in 1987 and 1988. While the official reason remains that Bollywood had gone on strike over tax issues, Rauf asserts that the awards had lost credibility and many stopped attending. With the ceremony back on track, Sridevi had now been nominated for both Chandni and Chaalbaaz. She called up Parashar and shared excitedly that the Filmfare team had requested her presence since the jury had selected her as the winner. However, they had not revealed which film it was for out of the two. Parashar recounts:

"I told her that it had to be for Chaalbaaz. She paused and said, 'What are you saying? You have YRF in front of you." But I repeated confidently that she would win for Chaalbaaz and not Chandni."

Parashar's prediction came true. Sridevi strode the stage that night to collect her first Best Actress trophy in Hindi for Chaalbaaz. And it was Amitabh who presented the award. The actress stood tongue-tied as usual, barely speaking a few words into the microphone.

Sridevi receiving the Filmfare Best Actress Award from Amitabh Bachchan for her performance in Hindi film 'Chalbaaz' during the 35th Filmfare Award function, in Bombay on December 15th, 1990.