H is for Hero(ine) worship

So, I was browsing through some tabloids the other day. It had pictures and stories about a lot of Bollywood stars. It got me thinking, there are a lot of these young actors today who are competing for the so-called number one spot. When I was younger (a lot younger!), of course there were a lot of actors and actresses too. But the debate for the numero uno spot was simple. Based on this, people were also broadly categorised under two classes.You were either a Madhuri Dixit fan or a Sridevi fan! It was as simple as that and there was no third option!

I remember having been a very ardent Madhuri fan. And my sister A, a fierce Sridevi fan. We used to have routine arguments about who was a better actress. Every time, a movie of one was released, our home would be a battlefield, leading to enormous headaches for Ma. The walls in our rooms were decorated (or rather destroyed) with umpteen posters of the respective actresses. If I got one poster,  A would go out and get two more. It didn't really matter who the better actress was. It was simply a battle of who was the better fan!

I also remember our wars got more intense sometimes and we would slyly tear out the posters in the others’ room. Ok, I’ll admit it, I was the nastier one. I remember having drawn a moustache and a beard on one of A’s favourite posters with a permanent marker. I don’t exactly remember why I did it. How much she cried after that?! She swore she would never talk to me again in her life! She did, though!

We had a good laugh about this a few days ago when we watched English Vinglish together. I loved Sridevi in the movie and I’m grown up enough to even admit it openly. So, I asked her “ I don’t really care any more but who is your most favourite actress today?”. “Why, Sridevi, of course!”, she said. A has now officially won the best fan award! And I wont deny her the title at all! In fact, if anything, I love her a little more for her loyalty even after all these years.