Actress Sridevi, who died of heart attack on February 24, featured alongside Tollywood superstars like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Krishna, NT Rama Rao, ANR and Shoban Babu in many songs in Telugu movies.
Born to Tamil father Ayappan and Telugu mother Rajeswari in Sivakasi, Sridevi was proficient in both languages. At the age of four, she started her acting career as a child artist with the Tamil film Thunaivan in 1969. She turned heroine with director K Balachander's 1976 Tamil film Moondru Mudichu.
Sridevi featured in over 250 films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi Malayalam and Kannada in her career spanning five decades. But she acted in more films in Telugu than in any other language. She made her debut as a heroine in Telugu with Krishna's Anuragalu in 1976. She went on to play the female lead in around 70 Tollywood movies.
Sridevi with Superstar Krishna
Sridevi had the longest and most memorable association with superstar Krishna. This on-screen couple featured in at least one Telugu film every year between 1979 and 1987. They became so successful a jodi that they were paired in eight movies in 1982 alone. Having featured in around 29 movies together, the super-hit couple went on to set a new formula for hits in the 1980s.
Kanchu Kagada, Kalavari Samsaram, Krishnavatharam, Burripalem Bolludu and Khaidi Rudrayya are some of their notable films. Sridevi and Krishna appeared together in hundreds of hit songs. Here are some of the music videos featuring the hit couple:
Sridevi with late legendary NT Rama Rao
When she was five, Sridevi did her first film with NT Rama Rao. The movie titled Badi Panthulu featured her as his granddaughter. She went on to play his love interest in Vetagadu (1979). She did around 13 movies, including Bobbili Puli, Justice Chowdhary and Aatagadu, with the late legendary actor. Here are some of their hit songs together:
Sridevi with late legendary ANR
Sridevi appeared as child artistes in late legendary actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao's movies like Bhakta Tukaram and Marapurani Manishi, before playing the female lead opposite him in Satyam Shivam in 1981.
She worked with him in 10 movies, including notable ones like Mudulla Koduku, Premabhishekham, Bangaru Kanuka and Premakanuka. Click the following video to see their hit songs:
Sridevi with Shobhan Babu
Sridevi teamed up with Shobhan Babu for the first time in Karthika Deepam in 1979 and went to work with him in six other movies. Kode Trachu (1984), Ellaalu (1981) and Devatha (1982) are famous for their chemistry. Here is the music video for the song Velluvachi Godaramma from Devatha.
After these legendary actors, Sridevi went on to play the female lead in their next-generation actors like Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh and Nagarjuna. She played a significant role in heralding the careers of Venky and Nag. Her pairing with Chiranjeevi also helped the latter reach superstar status.
Sridevi with Megastar Chiranjeevi
Sridevi was paired with Chiranjeevi for the first time in Raanikaasula Rangamma (1981) and the couple went on to do four other movies together. Their chemistry is best featured in Jagadheka Veerudu Athiloka Sundhari (1990) and SP Parasuram (1994). Check the songs of Jagadheka Veerudu Athiloka Sundhari:
Sridevi with Nagarjuna
Sridevi played the female lead alongside Nagarjuna in three Hindi and Two Telugu movies. Govindhaa ... Govindhaa... (1994), Khuda Gawah (1992) and Aakhari Poratam (1988) were hits among them. Here are the music videos for the song Swathi Chinuku from Aakhari Poratam and Mere Watan Mein from Khuda Gawah.
Sridevi with Venkatesh
Sridevi was paired with Venkatesh in Ram Gopal Varma's Kshana Kshanam, which got her the best actress awards from Filmfare South and Nandi Awards. Watch music videos of the songs Jaamu Rathiri, Andanantha Yeththa and Ammayi Muddu from Kshana Kshanam.
