Re-releases And Girlfriends

After a series of much real posts on my blog, today I want to write a heart warming one - An event that took me down the memory lane , made me relive most precious years of childhood once again! India is cricket frenzy and a movie frenzy nation. I think these are the only elements which bridge the gaps and inequalities here...How much ever silly it may seem - I believe they have the ability to divert one from deaths, wars and make one's heart gooey and happy!

There is a trend of rereleases going on in India - one reason being that all the new content nowadays is on OTT ( streaming platforms) and also there is a dearth of non triggering simple happy content for a human to watch. At times we don't need real or relatable content...we just need a fantasy of 2-3 hrs to travel to a dreamy land and come back to face reality. The content made nowadays is great, with mind blowing effects, unbelievable sizes of heroines, transformations on screen, plethora of topics, too many new faces but that old school feel and happy emotions are almost always missing. Once ina blue moon there may be some flick or a series that feels like a slice of life, but most of the times there is nothing which makes you fall unconditionally in love with the characters, the charisma and all the grandeur!

The idea to go to a rerelease started when my close friend from school - Hema once pinged on Instagram saying there is a rerelease of a movie called Murari , that came out when we were in early teens! I doubtfully nodded yes as I was not sure if watching a rerelease is a smart idea. This happened almost an year back , and we both - she a mad Mahesh babu fan😌 and me thoroughly enjoyed the movie, humming to all those sweet songs, we sighed at the beauty of Sonali Bendre, innocence of babu , the purity of the movie overall and thoroughly enjoyed every moment - followed by a yummy lunch and we casually spoke that day, that this is definitely a stress buster - and such a unique memory revival and that we should do it if we get a chance again.

We departed and time flew. In between we did meet for a comedy gig or had some usual girl friend voice note exchanges but didn't get a chance to meet for a longer time again!

As if someone heard us, an announcement came in March or may be April that the movie Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka sundari is rereleasing. I was super excited as my childhood golden lady and someone who I always tried to follow suit is the leading lady in it - the forever gorgeous sridevi. I wrote about her at I always Want to be like Sridevi, if interested to read (Its my love letter to her) 💗! Her dressing, those sarees, that childlike smile, comic timing, those big almond eyes - are all to die for! The hotness factor and sex appeal need no mention!

We chit chatted and had no solid plan in mind because of our own hurdles, health issues and so on - nothing was sure.  One of my msgs to hema -"Woman! If you flop this day I won't talk to u!" -..and she replied, "It's Sridevi babe! I won't ditch!" With that excitement and enthusiasm we booked tickets on one Sunday ( May 11th) and tried including the whole class. Strangely none were motivated enough to join the party!

Couple more women had some or other hurdles but one other close Friend Prem was game for it🩷 and we trio booked the tickets on a Sunday 9 AM show😂 I mean I didn't even book such an early show for any releases on any day in all these years! But I was meeting my girlies ....and it was Sridevi Chiranjeevi starrer movie that basically could be the first fantasy movie we watched as toddlers and later as kids.....

The movie released in 1990 created quite a stir and there are stories of how a ticket worth 6/- was sold for 250-300/- in those days! Vyjayanthi movies - the banner under which the movie got released started their own marketing by releasing some merch , past anecdotes as stories on their insta, interviews of Chiranjeevi , Aswini dutt, filmmaker Raghavendra rao etc. Everything was interesting to watch except the only fact that Sridevi is no more - the actual star of the movie is her and it felt like the spark and joy of the film faded in her absence!

So Sunday came and lot of thrill and excitement in air as we woke up early in morning, that too by putting alarms in our phones, got dolled and dressed up mainly for our Sri and started on a mildly sunny morning , thankfully with very less or no traffic and eating nothing coz the thrill to meet each other filled our tummies probably😛. However I gulped a cup of black coffee to not look sleepy and started in a cab. We kept messaging each other and reached IMAX. Not sure if it was the high of meeting school girls after long or if it's Sridevi but I was surely light headed ;)

We started photo sessions and clicked to our hearts' content! The movie started with whistles and hoots as Chiranjeevi entered the screen with this fabulous intro song. As SPB's voice playfully filled the theatre, we were pushed in to the valley of nostalgia with in seconds and were surely not present in 2025. Body present, mind travelled to 3 decades back.

Chiru intro song

Both Hema and Prem joined school in high school years but I studied from Grade 2 to Xth in same school! I vividly remember how we were taken to a charity show to the same movie....almost, the whole school was in the movie hall and it was quite a fun filled day. May be I watched the movie only now again with the girls. The mere disappointment is that they didn't really work hard to clean up the film. The print is as bad as a You tube print ! if not for the protagonists' undeniable grace and charm - you won't be able to tolerate such a bad print on the large screen (even youtube print is better)!

We were utter disappointed and thought to even write a letter to Vyjayanthi movies as especially Indraja's ( Sridevi's ) entry was too bad. All frames seemed like in sepia color mode...all lovely costumes colors seemed hampered ;(...I mean this is not the way an iconic film is meant to be rereleased!!! I don't know where they spent those 8 crore rupees - As per their statement , it is the money spent on movie revival!

Celestial Sridevi (Indra's daughter Indraja) - her intro scene

    

Above is Indraja's entry song, for the lack of good print , uploading what's available on Youtube. The song writer Veturi, Music by Ilayaraja and mesmerizing singers SPB, Janaki etc - altogether caught the pulse of audience well and produced some unforgettable gems! Tough to choose one favorite.

However just Sri, the music, the childhood memories hitting us like waves - made us tolerate the poor quality of an otherwise outstanding movie :( . We were motivated to dance many a times but we being the shy creatures that we are - we resisted ourselves ;) as there were viewers the age of our parents and grand parents in rows next to us and behind us...but then just one boy wearing shades stood and did a step during one song. Little inspired by him we stood up during the last song ....ran to back stage, near exit door and danced like no one was watching us...and actually no one watched us 😝😊 or may be they did...but we were lost in our own world and forgot the judgmental eyes or some mockeries for a full 3-4 min!

It felt good, so so good that we managed to shake a leg. They say do a new thing everyday which usually you may not do due to many societal or self inhibitions! It was our new thing that day :) Of course Prem being the top dancer from our school inspired me more!

The movie ended, we travelled back to 2025 - and we mentally conveyed a bye to Sri who almost felt immortal in the climax scene! I felt quite empty and my love for her is forever....After the movie, had some more girlie time as we went to a make over shop , bought some very pretty accessories , bracelets and there was a mothers day discount going on there! So I gifted somethings to myself :)

Some loot from the day! funky bracelets, a nail polish

We came back home and had a lot to talk as till then we didn't get much chance to actually chit chat or relax. After some good food and rest we dispersed in the evening with full tummies and hearts......with a promise to meet soon on another rerelease day may be!

Us Ghibilified 💕

Some realizations after my latest mini reunion:

• None can replace girl friends...they understand you like no one else does. They know your quirks and what actually you may be going through 

• Talking to men doesn't give same pleasure, as 90% of the expressions get lost in translation..my advice to all specially who are in late 30s or entering 40s, lean towards your girlfriends more. Never expect your vibe to match with Men. They r good only till their ego is boosted 😛, it only takes soulful or sensitive men - a rare species - to understand a woman - so ya never lose your close knit women's circle!

• Meeting school friends and reliving childhood is a therapy in itself. You should do it often. It's an effort you must not hesitate to put!

• Even three is a party when there is a mental match and no restrictions or inhibitions!

Logging this entry in my blog as a nice and sweet memory!

Hope to meet again on blog when we can record a fresh happy memory :)  Glimpses of our meet in this video (Not a great editor but tried some thing on Inshot (with husbands help😆):