Laadla

Don't really know how to explain or analyse the Sridevi factor. Sometimes I think she is intense and powerful, sometimes I think she overacts. Here I don't really know what to think or how to describe her. She was always angry, offensive, aggressive, and I still enjoyed her performance. It was a fresh change from what she was used to doing. No-one else existed in this film. The film itself is a cheap comic strip. It is terribly melodramatic, badly overdone, and is further worsened by laughably silly dialogues and poor production values (pretty much like every film of its sort at that time, particularly films made by directors like Raj Kanwar). But there is one good thing about it, and it is Sridevi as the vicious and damn beautiful career woman Sheetal Jetley. And I think that was quite the film's main purpose. Some people say Sridevi introduced the first anti-heroine in a leading role to Hindi cinema. Now that is complete nonsense as there were many other actresses who played negative leading roles before, and even if it was, it would not matter that much as this film is bad enough to be forgotten. It is one of many films filmmakers make for their favourite leading actress and only for her. In this case it's Sridevi. Many filmmakers who worship her made films for their ultimate goddess. This movie is one of them. It is a pathetic movie, but Sridevi makes it worth a watch.

Laadla review :

After the colossal failure of his ambitious home production Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993), Anil Kapoor got the much needed hit in form of Laadla. However, the film belonged to Sridevi who walked away with all the accolades for her grey shaded character. Her punchline "You understand. You better understand!!" is still memorable.

Originally planned with Divya Bharti, Laadla was reshot with Sridevi after Divya's untimely death in 1993. Raveena Tandon played second fiddle to Sridevi while Anupam Kher was the comic pappa. Shakti Kapoor had his own catchphrase "Tuna Tuna" even as Prem Chopra- Paresh Rawal - Mohnish Bahl formed the villainous trio.

Anil Kapoor played the dashing mazdoor who ends up marrying his ziddi employer Sridevi and then the drama unfolds..

Anand Milind's compositions - particularly 'Ladki hai kya re baba' and the seductive number 'Dhik Tana na' in which a ravishing Sridevi seduces Anil Kapoor - gained popularity.

Quite massy in approach, Laadla struck the right chord with the audience and emerged a box office hit. In one scene, we see Anil Kapoor and his colleague Ravi Baswani going to watch Khalnayak (1993) at Mumbai's Metro theatre but unable to get in due to massive crowds. Wishful thinking! Unfortunately, Laadla couldnt achieve that kind of success..

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni

This is one of my all time favourite Sridevi movies, because she is not playing the normal heroine. Sri excelles in showing how Indian women can be successful business woman and not just a woman running around trees, she leaves that to Raveena Tandon.

She looks damn good, apart from the one song in which she wears an awful silver outfit, and made an excellent job of taking over Divya Bharti's performance. As normal she works well with Anil Kapoor. The music is good, but the only draw back of this film is the ending. I think it could have been done better.

This is not the usuall run of the mill film, and it left a lot of young impressionable teenagers saying,"You understand, you better understand."

Anil Kapoor plays the sentimental Laadla, and the mind games between him and Sri are a treat to watch. This is Sridevi like you have never seen her before!

To start with , this role does not belong to Sridevi , it was Divya Bharti's role all the way. This role should be performed by one who has haughty face( Naak pe gussa ho) and Divya Bharti has that looks . But than Sridevi does performed with panache , again! It was better that Madhuri's performance in Hum Aapke hai Kaun and Kajol's Yeh Dillagi.

I rated this an 8. The movie was too short. Sridevi is Sridevi - an enigma, a legend, I mean once you start watching her, you dont want to stop. She is a complete treat to the eyes - fun to watch; the ultimate entertainer. Raveena doesnt have much to do in this movie. As we all know, Divya Bharati was supposed to do Sridevi's role which is odd b/c Raveena and her would have been on par in term of popularity in those days, so it's unclear if Raveena's role was trimmed down to maximize Sridevi's or if her role was really meant to be this irrelevant. Anil is a good actor as always. There are some nice songs.