On 24th February 2018, the country lost a gem of the Indian film industry. Sridevi, the first female superstar to have made a mark across India’s various cinema platforms took her last breath in Dubai. She was attending nephew Mohit Marwah’s wedding with her husband Boney Kapoor and daughter, Khushi. The legendary actress passed away from accidental drowning after losing consciousness in her hotel room bathtub, where she was found by her husband. Her remains were transferred to India by Ashraf Thamarasery, a 44-year-old Indian from Kerala who signed off the official documents to bring her back to the country. She was then flown to India on 27th night in a private plane owned by Anil Ambani.
Bollywood and fans paid their final respects to the star at Mumbai’s Celebration Sports Club on 28th February. The funeral of the Padma Shri winning veteran actress was held at 3:30 PM post the gathering and her last rites were performed with state honours, as arranged by the Maharashtrian government – complete with a gun salute and her mortal remains wrapped in a tricoloured flag.
Hundreds of her fans and well-wishers gathered outside the sports club to show their respect, towering over the building and waiting across the street. “Since I heard the news about her death, I have been standing outside her home for two to three hours every day, waiting for one glance,” Bhagirathi, an aspiring actress, told BBC about Sridevi who was her inspiration.
Another fan, Kalpanaben Kodekar, who had travelled all the way from Gujarat to catch a glimpse of the actress said, “I’m really grateful that they allowed us inside and not just the celebrities. We’ll always feel the void Sridevi’s departure has created.”
The three-hour journey from the sports club to the Vile Parle Seva Samaj crematorium was undertaken in a truck covered with streamers of rajnigandha flowers; said to be the actress’ favourite.
Here are some of the stars who were present at the Celebration Sports Club:
Shahrukh Khan
Jeetendra
Sonam Kapoor & Anand Ahuja
Shraddha Kapoor
Shahid Kapoor & Mira Rajput
Shubhash Ghai
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Jaya Bachchan
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Deepika Padukone
Arjun Kapoor
The family finally spoke to the media and put out a release on their social media platforms as a final obituary to the actress, wife, mother and friend.
Everybody in the industry said goodbye to Sridevi in their own special way. Some found it hard to believe and the others had a few last words they wished they could have shared with the actress.
Shahrukh Khan
Shraddha Kapoor
Sushmita Sen
Kajol
Preity Zinta
Hema Malini
Amitabh Bachchan
Rishi Kapoor
Rajnikanth
Kamal Haasan
Juhi Chawla
Madhuri Dixit-Nene
Anupam Kher
Akshay Kumar
Alia Bhatt
Farhan Akhtar
Rest in peace, Sridevi and we will never forget you.
Images: Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Reuters