Thousands Mourn Death of Bollywood Superstar Sridevi Kapoor
Thousands of people took to the streets of Mumbai, India on Wednesday, Feb. 28, to pay respects to iconic Bollywood actress Sridevi Kapoor.
Last week, the 51-year-old superstar, known more as just Sridevi, was found dead after accidentally drowning in a bathtub. She was in Dubai at the time to attend a family wedding. Her body was flown back to Mumbai, where her family lives, on Tuesday night through a private plane owned by Anil Ambani, a Mumbai industrialist and entertainment baron.
According to breaking reports, fans of the late actress lined up outside a private club near Sridevi's home where her body had been laid out. Troops of guards had to keep fans off the fence as Sridevi's family, friends, and a number of Bollywood stars, enter through another gate to pay their respects.
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Sridevi is survived by her husband, Bollywood producer Boney Kapoor, and two daughters, Janhvi and Khushi.
In an official statement made via Twitter, Kapoor thanked everyone who sent their well wishes for their family. "To the world she was their Chandni... the actor par excellence... their Sridevi... but to me she was my love, my friend, mother to our girls... my partner," he wrote. "To our daughters, she was their everything... their life. She was the axis around which our family ran."
He also asked the public to allow the family to grieve privately and in peace. "My only concern at this time is to protect my daughters and find a way to move forward without Sri," he added.
Sridevi was well known in India for revolutionizing their view of women in its patriarchal society. She is fondly known as the country's "first female superstar," one of the few women who was paid more than their male co-stars. She is also among the few female stars who got to play the role of a protagonist.
Her superstar status, however, could be what truly caused her death, as it shines the light on the pressure on women in Bollywood. Critics could not help but compare her death to that of Whitney Houston in 2012, when the singer drowned in a bathtub due to use of cocaine and heart disease.
