Before Deepika Padukone’s pay parity headlines and before Prabhas’ ₹100-crore fee stunned Bollywood, there was Sridevi, an icon who didn’t just break the glass ceiling, she floated above it. In the 1990s, while male superstars were still climbing the ladder, Sridevi had already reached the top and was charging more than all of them.
Yes, even more than Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aamir Khan.
The ₹1 Crore Star Who Outshone Everyone
In 1993, while top male actors were getting ₹50–75 lakh per film, Sridevi became the first female actor in India to demand and receive ₹1 crore for a single film: Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. Back then, only Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi earned more than her.
By the mid-90s, even as legends like Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan joined the ₹1 crore club, Sridevi’s star power was still unmatched. She was not just a Bollywood queen; she ruled South Indian cinema with blockbuster hits across languages.
A One-Woman Industry
Sridevi wasn’t “just a heroine.” She was the hero, the story, the show. From Chandni to Laadla, Gumrah to Mr. India, she carried films on her shoulders, delivering power-packed performances that mixed grace, drama, dance, and depth.
Audiences came to watch her. Producers paid her more than her male co-stars—and happily. Even back then, she proved a woman could dominate the box office.
And Then… She Left It All
At the peak of her fame, at just 33 years old, Sridevi shocked India by stepping away from cinema. Why? She was expecting her first child and chose to devote herself to her family.
Her last film before this pause was Judaai (1997). For the next 15 years, India waited. She focused on raising her daughters, Janhvi and Khushi, while her absence became cinema’s silence.
A Comeback Like No Other
In 2012, she returned with English Vinglish—a quiet, powerful film about identity and self-worth. It wasn’t a ‘comeback,’ it was a reminder: Sridevi never needed cinema. Cinema needed Sridevi.
She followed it up with Puli and Mom, before her untimely passing in 2018 at age 54. But her legacy? Eternal.
More Than a Superstar, She Was a Storm
Sridevi wasn’t fighting for pay parity. She was on the pay scale.
She didn’t demand roles. She defined them.
And long before hashtags and headlines, she showed India that a woman could lead and leave on her own terms.
She was, and will always be, India’s original superstar.
