Sridevi passes away: Body to arrive in a few hours; funeral in Mumbai today

Sridevi passes away: Body to arrive in a few hours; funeral in Mumbai today

Legendary actor Sridevi's mortal remains will arrive in India from Dubai on Monday morning and the cremation is likely to take place later in the day in Mumbai. According to reports, her body is being flown to India in an aircraft sent by business magnate Anil Ambani.

Sridevi, who acted in over 300 films in her impressive career spanning five decades, passed away due to cardiac arrest on Saturday in Dubai. She was 54.

Her sudden demise plunged the entire country into a pall of gloom. Her fans and friends, including celebrities, sportspersons and politicians expressed shock and disbelief.

Sridevi's autopsy was conducted on Sunday.

How it happened Sridevi was getting ready for a dinner with husband Boney Kapoor in Dubai minutes before she suffered a cardiac arrest at their hotel room, according to Khaleej Times.

Describing the incident, the report further claims that the cardiac arrest took place when she was in the bath.

Boney Kapoor, when she did not return for 15 minutes, knocked on the door and later forced open the door to discover Sridevi lying motionless in the bathtub filled with water.The actress was declared dead by the paramedics who visited the site.India's first female superstar Sridevi was truly special. Her mere presence could light up the screen like no other actress. She started her career as a child actor when she was all of four. She made her debut with M A Thirumugham's Tamil flick Thunaivan and continued acting in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films before making her Bollywood debut. Although she had featured as a child artiste in the 1975 hit Julie, her first Bollywood film as an adult was Solva Sawan. The film fared poorly and she was written off in Bollywood for the next three years until she was relaunched in Himmatwala in 1981. There was no looking back thereafter.Chandni, as she was referred to after the success of her movie by the same name, ruled the commercial cinema space in the 1980s and '90s like no other female actress had done before.After her marriage to Bollywood producer Boney Kapoor, Sridevi slowed down her career but returned with a bang in 2012 with English Vinglish.

'Shocking and heartbreaking' Among her fans who expressed their disbelief and shock on social media were Bollywood celebrities, political leaders and sportspersons. Several of them had either worked with her or known her personally. They, along with her fans worldwide, took to Twitter to express their condolences and shock over her sudden demise.Union minister for Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani penned down an emotional letter remembering her "favourite star who defined joy in my childhood". "I pay homage to an actor who through her body of work ascertained that a female actress' place in a commercial Hindi movie is not only to complement her male counterparts," Irani wrote in the letter.

Amitabh saw it coming?

Minutes before the news of Sridevi's death broke out, her 'Khuda Gawah' co-star Amitabh Bachchan tweeted saying he was feeling uneasy. His tweet left the Twitterati wondering if Bachchan had the premonition about her death.