`English Vinglish` is a universal subject: Sridevi

Mumbai: Bollywood actress Sridevi`s comeback film `English Vinglish`, which released last week, is silently spreading a message among its viewers worldwide - respect women.

The 49-year-old plays the character of a middle class housewife Shashi who is often ridiculed and humiliated by her teenage daughter and husband because of her poor English. Sridevi said she is getting positive feedback from her viewers who have liked the film`s message of supporting and respecting women who silently dedicate their lives to the welfare of their family. "A man, someone`s husband, came up to me and said after watching the movie he had felt bad that his harsh remarks may have hurt his wife many times. "A young girl had said she went back home after watching the movie and hugged her mother and said `I love you`. These were the reactions, emotions of some viewers. The movie is not just about a person learning English language, it is about human feelings, it is a universal subject," Sridevi told PTI during promoting her film here. The actress, who has ruled the Hindi film industry in the late `80s and nineties, is all praises for first time director Gauri Shinde, wife of director R Balki. "Gauri is a great director, and it is a first time for me to work with a woman director. I just grabbed the script when I heard it. "I fell for the character of Shashi Godbole. Shashi embodied simplicity and sensitivity. She is a very relatable character because I am a mother and a woman. But my children and husband respect and pamper me," she said. Looking chic in black tight fitted trousers, shirt and an ankle length open robe in black and gold, she credited her husband Boney Kapoor and children as the secret behind her youthful looks. "My husband and children keep me in shape, no pain no gain," she added. Sridevi, who has returned to the silver screen after a gap of fifteen years with this film, said she will also make her daughters watch it. "This is a movie I can show proudly to my kids and grandchildren, this is also one of my best," she addded. PTI