Kamal Haasan remembered Sridevi as an eager learner who could set aside her ego when he offered a reasoned correction. He was speaking from personal experience: director K. Balachander had asked him to rehearse with her and help correct her acting and dance. Haasan’s recollection appears in an excerpt from his foreword to Amborish Roychoudhury’s book Sridevi – The South Years.
Why Haasan called Sridevi a humble student
Haasan described Sridevi’s openness to learning as shoshin, a Japanese term he explained as “the open mind of a student willing to learn.” He recalled that when he gave her a logical explanation for a change, she could put ego aside and take it on board. “But she was a humble student, and a very obedient actor,” he wrote.
That phrase is Haasan’s affectionate characterization in a personal remembrance, not an independently established assessment of Sridevi’s personality or working style. He also acknowledged the unusual position he was in: he was young himself and, by his account, comparatively inexperienced when Balachander asked him to guide her rehearsals.
How Kamal Haasan and Sridevi worked together
Haasan said Balachander assigned him to rehearse Sridevi and correct her acting and dance moves. A 2018 condolence report likewise quoted Haasan recalling that responsibility and praising the work she put into developing as a performer from childhood. In that tribute, he said they had acted together in 27 films “in all languages”; that is Haasan’s count, rather than a separately audited filmography total.
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The rehearsal role did not make their off-screen relationship formal or distant in his telling. Haasan remembered Sridevi calling him “sir,” while he teased her about being fed by her mother. These small details sit alongside his description of her as a dear friend, respected colleague and someone he considered family.
The bond behind their romantic screen roles
Haasan repeatedly described their relationship as more like that of classmates or siblings than romantic partners. At the 2017 India Today South Conclave, he praised Sridevi’s “absorbing quality” and joked that he used to bully her when their mentor was away. He said their bond felt like schoolmates spending time together, despite playing romantic roles.
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At the 2018 India Today Conclave, Haasan said he met her when she was 15 or 16. He recalled that they grew up like classmates and siblings even while they were paired on screen and asked to perform romantic scenes. The contrast between their screen image and his account of their personal rapport is central to how he remembered their partnership.
Haasan’s final memory of Sridevi
In the foreword excerpt, Haasan recalled embracing Sridevi at an awards event a few months before her death. He qualified the timing with “if I remember correctly,” so it is best understood as his recollection rather than a precisely documented date. The memory closes on the same intimate, familial note that runs through his account of their years working together.
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The piece is presented as an excerpt from Haasan’s foreword to Amborish Roychoudhury’s Sridevi – The South Years, a book focused on Sridevi’s years in South Indian cinema. It is a first-person remembrance, not a full biography or a comprehensive account of her career. Haasan’s judgments and anecdotes belong to his perspective as a friend and fellow performer.
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- Haasan said Balachander asked him to help Sridevi with acting and dance rehearsals.
- He remembered her as receptive to explanation and willing to learn.
- He described their off-screen bond as familial or sibling-like despite their romantic casting.
- His count of 27 films together comes from his own 2018 tribute.
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