Sundeep Malani about Sridevi

"She has gone nowhere, she is Chandni, we can see her in the moon," says 46-year-old Sundeep Malani. After hearing about her death, Malani took the first flight to Mumbai and has been around her bungalow to get a last glimpse of her. Malani has been her fan since he was eight-years-old, after watching her Tamil movie with Kamal Hassan Kalyana Raman in 1979.

Malani spoke to Sridevi only two weeks ago. "It was a casual interaction. Being from the media industry, I was blessed to meet her for the umpteenth time," said Malani. While he has a collection of all of Sridevi's 300 movies, he has been visiting Sridevi's residence to meet and celebrate her birthday for the past seven years. 

"On her 50th birthday, I gifted her a collage of her movies. She was a caring lady. I still can't believe that she is no more. For the past seven years, I was a part of her birthday celebrations," said Malani.

Two days ago, he also chatted with Sridevi's husband Boney Kapoor about the wedding celebrations. Malani added, "He knows that I am a huge fan of hers. He sent me a few pictures of his, Sridevi and group pictures to keep in my collection."

Malani is currently working on a documentary on Sridevi which is partially complete. "I am now planning to add a few visuals of her fans paying tribute to her before the final edit of the documentary."

“This is the worst tragedy in my life, half my life has gone," says Sundeep Malani (46) and breaks down crying. Sundeep returned to his house in Banaswadi from a film shoot on Saturday and woke up in the wee hours on Sunday to the shocking news of actress Sridevi’s death. “My relationship with Sridevi is like Meera and Krishna. I am her devotee Meera and she is my Lord Krishna,’’ he says while rushing to Kempegowda International Airport to board the next available flight to Mumbai and catch a last glimpse of Sridevi.

By his own account, Sundeep is a ‘die-hard and ardent fan’ of Sridevi. Born in Mumbai with roots in Mangaluru, writer and director Sundeep says it is because of Sridevi he is into movies. “I was eight years old when I first saw her on the big screen in the Tamil film ‘Kalyana Raman’ in Mangaluru in 1979. Since then, I have been collecting her pictures and watching all her films,” says Sundeep who has a collection of Sridevi’s 300 films.

In a film career spread over 27 years, Sundeep, under his banner Malani Talkies, had directed or co-directed six feature, short films and two documentaries. In the Kannada film, ‘Jo Jo Laali’, Sundeep had his heroine Kalpana Pandit do a ‘tandav’ in a costume similar to Sridevi’s costume in ‘Chandni’. Another Hindi film, ‘Janleva 555’, was dedicated to Sridevi. In his recent Hindi film, ‘Yeh Cinemaa Hai’, he got his wife to make facial expressions just like Sridevi. 

Sundeep has also met the diva umpteen times since 2010. On Sridevi’s 50th birthday on August 13, 2014, Sundeep’s presents had moved her to tears. He had gifted a poster collage of her entire Hindi filmography and a rare photograph of her as a child with her parents Ayappan and Rajeshwari. “My family met her, had coffee and lunch with her,” he said as he waited to catch a flight from Kempegowda International Airport.

He was present at the premieres of ‘English Vinglish’ and ‘Mom’ and work for her production. “Boney Kapoor once said only two persons — myself and Rajeshwari (Sridevi’s mother) — had accurate knowledge about Sridevi and her films,” he said. “Not a single day has gone by without remembering her. “She will always remain my Chandni,” he said.