Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess

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Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess
File:Sridevi- The Eternal Screen Goddess.jpg
AuthorSatyarth Nayak
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish
SubjectSridevi
GenreBiography
Published22 December 2019
PublisherRandom House
Pages320
ISBN978-93-53056-78-0

Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess is a 2019 Indian biographical book written by the author and screenwriter Satyarth Nayak, chronicling the life and career of the Indian actress Sridevi. The book describes her birth in 1963 in Meenampatti, her 36-year-long film acting career, and her death by accidental drowning in 2018. It was published by Random House on 22 December 2019 and met with critical acclaim.

Development and writing[edit]

Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess was the first book on the Indian actress Sridevi. Describing himself as an admirer of her, the author and screenwriter Satyarth Nayak admitted that he was surprised knowing there is no biographical book that extensively chronicles about the life and career of the actress, whom he called "a true pan-Indian megastar".[1][2] He told Outlook, "Her legacy spans fifty years and five languages and ... I guess Sridevi's massive body of work was intimidating for most writers." He had previously met Sridevi and her husband Boney Kapoor to discuss the idea about the book, however, following her death in 2018, he decided to make the book a tribute to her. During his research, Nayak collected information about Sridevi from her family members, friends and colleagues, and her Bollywood and South Indian film co-stars, directors and producers as well. He revealed that all of them were "wonderfully" shared about their experiences with her, with some getting emotional. He also collected archives of her interviews from the 1980s and 1990s magazines.[1]

Release[edit]

The book was originally titled Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar, before Nayak changed it to Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess. It was announced on 13 August 2019, and the cover was revealed by the actress Vidya Balan on her Instagram account on the next day.[3] Kajol wrote the foreword.[4] The book was published by Random House on 16 December in the hardcover format.[5] Its Amazon Kindle and audiobook edition were released on 20 December and 12 February 2021, respectively;[6] the latter was publisher by Random House Audio and narrated by Shaayan Bhattacharya.[7]

Critical reception[edit]

Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess received mostly positive reviews from critics. Writing for The Hindu, Ramya Kannan described it as "an unabashed fanboy account, but rescues itself from tedium by being eminently readable, and sometimes, one even struggles to put down the book". According to her, the book was filled by Nayak's "diligent narrative" and called it "a certainly well-written hagiography". An anonymous reviewer from The Times of India termed the book as "a treat for any Bollywood fan".[8] Mayank Shekhar said, "This is that sort of old-world, mythical stardom, totally impenetrable for public access, that I can see growing with each year that Sridevi's no more. It's also the kind of stardom that we're unlikely to see repeated in the age of over-information."[9] Gautam Chintamani of Firstpost summarized that the book "comes very close to being that one work of literature one might seek out to decode the late superstar".[10]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Roy, Lachmi Deb (23 December 2019). "Satyarth Nayak On His Book, 'The Eternal Screen Goddess', A Novel Based On The Legendary Actress, Sridevi". Outlook. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Chhiber, Mini Anthikad (22 April 2020). "Satyarth Nayak book on Sridevi explores the actor's career". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "Vidya Balan shares cover of a book dedicated to Sridevi on her birth anniversary". Deccan Chronicle. Asian News International. 14 August 2019. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. ↑ "Kajol writes foreword of Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. 27 September 2019. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  5. ↑ Nayak, Satyarth (16 December 2019). Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess. Random House. ISBN 978-06-70092-67-3.
  6. ↑ Nayak, Satyarth (20 December 2019). Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess. Random House. ASIN B082P2X26X.
  7. ↑ Nayak, Satyarth (12 February 2021). Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess. Random House Audio. ASIN B08W8M9SS2.
  8. ↑ "Micro review: 'Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess' by Satyarth Nayak". The Times of India. 4 January 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Shekhar, Mayank (26 February 2020). "Mystique That Lives On Still". Mid-Day. Mumbai, India. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Chintamani, Gautam (7 February 2020). "Adulatory but insightful, Satyarth Nayak's biography of Sridevi goes deep into the world of the late superstar". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
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