Indian actress Sridevi made her debut as a child in the 1967 Tamil film Kandhan Karunai at the age of four, and began playing lead roles as a child in M. A. Thirumugam’s 1969 mythological Tamil film Thunaivan. Her first role as an on-screen adult came in 1976 at age 13, in the Tamil film Moondru Mudichu. She then starred in 16 Vayathinile (1977) which proved to be a major breakthrough for Sridevi. Following this she appeared in the critically acclaimed thriller Sigappu Rojakkal (1978) and the satirical drama Varumayin Niram Sivappu (1980), establishing herself as a leading female star of South Indian Cinema. Subsequently, she played a woman who suffers from Amnesia in the critically and commercially successful classic Moondram Pirai (1982). She also achieved success by starring as a female lead in the successful dramas Padaharella Vayasu (1978), Meendum Kokila (1981), Premabhishekam (1981), Vazhvey Maayam (1982) and Aakhari Poratam (1988).
In 1972, Sridevi debuted as a child artist in Bollywood with Rani Mera Naam, she also appeared in the film Julie (1975). Sridevi's first starring role in Hindi cinema came with the drama film Solva Sawan (1979), and she emerged with wider recognition in the action film Himmatwala (1983). She established herself as a major star in top-grossing hits in Mawaali (1983), Justice Chaudhury (1983), Tohfa (1984), Maqsad (1984), Masterji (1985), Karma (1986), Janbaaz (1986) and Waqt Ki Awaz (1988). In 1986, came the snake fantasy Nagina which saw Sridevi play a shape-shifting woman. The film turned out to be the second highest-grossing film of the year.[1] Nagina is credited as being the film which established Sridevi's position as the biggest and highest-paid female star of the 1980s.[2] Sridevi followed this by playing a goofy crime journalist in the science fiction film Mr. India (1987), which emerged as a major critical and commercial success.[3] She subsequently reinforced her position as the top female star of the era with Yash Chopra's musical romance Chandni (1989), as a woman at the center of a love triangle, and the slapstick comedy ChaalBaaz (1989), in which she portrayed twins. She achieved further success in the Telugu films Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (1990) and Kshana Kshanam (1991). The former of which was the highest grossing Telugu film to that point.[4]
She appeared in another Yash Chopra film with the musical romance Lamhe (1991), in a dual role, she plays both mother and daughter. She appeared in a double role opposite Amitabh Bachchan in the epic drama Khuda Gawah (1992), which was one of the highest grossing films of the year.[5] Sridevi's big-budget 1993 release Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja was one of India's most expensive films ever made.[6] Though the film failed at the box office. She next starred in the 1993 thriller Gumrah as a singer falsely accused of drugs smuggling in Hong Kong. In 1994, Sridevi starred in Laadla playing the villainous business tycoon Sheetal Jaitley. The last major film Sridevi starred in before she took a break from the industry was the romantic drama Judaai, released in 1997, in which the actress played a greedy housewife going to extreme lengths for money. After a 6-year hiatus, Sridevi briefly returned to the small screen in the Sahara sitcom Malini Iyer (2004–2005). After an 15-year absence from film, Sridevi starred in English Vinglish (2012), a comedy-drama. In the film, she played Shashi Godbole, a housewife who enrolls in an English-speaking course after her husband and daughter's mocking of her English skills. With the high critical acclaim and massive commercial success of English Vinglish, Sridevi became the only actress in Bollywood to make a successful comeback as a leading lady after marriage and a long hiatus.[7] Sridevi was next seen in her home production titled Mom (2017), which marked her 300th film.[8] In the psychological thriller film, she played a mother who sets out to avenge the rape of her daughter. Her last on-screen appearance was in the film Zero (2018) in a cameo.[9] Throughout her career from 1967-2018 Sridevi has acted in a total of 269 films which is 93 Telugu films, 74 Tamil films, 73 Hindi films, 24 Malayalam films ,5 Kannada films and 1 Television serial In Hindi.