Even though the official time given by the Kapoor family for friends and fans of Sridevi to pay their last respects to the late actor is from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM today, ever since the news of her death on Saturday, a continuous stream of people have been gathering outside her home as well as that of Anil Kapoor, testament to the love and regard that people had for India’s first female superstar.
Since early morning today, Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Karan Johar and Mohit Marwah have already reached Boney Kapoor’s Residence. The cremation is scheduled today at around 3.30 p.m.
Sridevi, known as Indian cinema’s first woman superstar, is survived by her husband Boney Kapoor and their two daughters Jahnvi and Khushi. In its statement, the family said Sridevi’s body will be kept at Celebration Sports Club in Lokhandwala near her home for people to pay their last respects from 9:30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. before it is taken for cremation.
The family said media can also pay their respects “provided camera, recording devices, etc are left outside the venue”.
READ ALSO: Sridevi’s funeral arrangements to be held today; Kapoors’ statement
Here are the LIVE UPDATES:
4:06 pm (IST)
Shah Rukh Khan, Prasoon Joshi, members of the Prithviraj Kapoor family and a host of other celebrities have arrived at the Vile Parle crematorium to pay their respects at the last rites of Sridevi
Mumbai: Shahrukh Khan arrives at Vile Parle Seva Samaj Crematorium #Sridevi pic.twitter.com/aE7V4VopJR
— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2018
3:59 pm (IST)
With flowers in their hands and a prayer for their screen idol on their lips, thousands of fans today joined Sridevi’s family and friends to pay their last respects at a hall where her body was placed ahead of the funeral. The body of the late actor, who died in Dubai on Saturday, was kept at the Celebration Sports Club, minutes away from her residence Green Acres in Lokhandwala. A prayer was performed at the hall before taking the actor’s body for the last rites. A giant photograph of the much loved actor edged with white flowers was put up outside the club, which was covered with white lilies, mogra and red roses. Sridevi’s body was brought to the venue at 9 am by her family members.. Inside the hall, her family, including film-maker husband Boney Kapoor, actors Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Harshvardhan Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor, stood in a corner, their eyes wet with tears. Sridevi’s daughters Jahnvi and Khushi were standing a little behind them. The actor’s mortal remains were draped in a red kanjivaram sari with a bindi on her forehead. After travelling down streets lined with mourners, the funeral procession reached its final destination. The cremation will take place very shortly.
3:40 pm (IST)
Ram Gopal Varma, who has been constantly posting about Sridevi, since the news of the actor’s demise first broke just put up a picture that puts the nation’s mourning at the passing of India’s first female superstar in perspective:
FInal Exit Of A CInematic Goddess pic.twitter.com/klw8hnTxzz
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) February 28, 2018
3:11 pm (IST)
While most of the film fraternity came to pay their respects at Sridevi’s prayer meeting held earlier in Lokhandwala, several Bollywood celebrities were out of the country and unable to say a last farewell to India’s first female superstar. One such celebrity was Preity Zinta who is currently abroad. Nonetheless, the Kya Kehna actress put out an emotional post on Instagram. She wrote:
2:50 pm (IST)
Thousands gathered to pay their last respects to Sridevi at the prayer meeting held for her at Celebration Club, while thousands more gathered outside the crematorium where her last rites will take place. However, the situation is deteriorating as people have lined up the streets through which her funeral cortege is passing and the police is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain an orderly procession. According to some media reports, police officers were forced to do a lathi charge as the funeral procession was leaving the Club due to fans not making way, determined as they were to catch a glimpse of their heroine.
2:38 pm (IST)
Sridevi’s funeral cortege is en route to the crematorium. The cremation is scheduled to take place at 3:30 pm, marking the end of an incredible epoch in Indian cinema. With the passing of Sridevi, not just the film industry, but the entire nation has lost one of it’s brightest stars. Despite her absence from the screens, Sridevi had never faded from public memory, having etched a special place for herself in the cinemas of languages across the country. During her heyday of the ’80s and ’90s she was the most incandescent pan-Indian film star in the world, adept at both comedy and drama, delivering nuanced performances in each of her films, whatever the language. Her comic timing was impeccable and she was equally versed in both romanticism and gravitas. With the passing of such a luminescent star then, it’s perhaps no wonder that the grieving is universal.
2:15 pm (IST)
As per the schedule announced by representatives of the Kapoor familly earlier, Sridevi’s mortal remains are being transported for the cremation, in what will be the last journey of an Indian icon. Thousands of fans gathered outside the prayer hall during the darshan being held at the Celebration Sports Club in Lokhandwala, some of whom had been waiting since 6 am to pay their respects to their heroine. The body is now en route to Vile Parle’s Seva Samaj Crematorium, where the final rites and cremation will be performed.
2:03 pm (IST)
Away from the cameras’ flash and the eyes of her millions of fans in India, the actress Sridevi’s body made its way to a simple mortuary in the United Arab Emirates, where one man helped sign out her remains to return home. Listed only as “ASHRAF” on the official paperwork in Dubai is Ashraf “Sherry” Thamarassery, a 44-year-old Indian from Kerala who has become a ferryman of sorts for those who die here in the UAE. From indebted labourers to the moneyed elite, Thamarassery has helped repatriate 4,700 bodies to 38 countries across the world. He views it as a noble responsibility in this desert sheikhdom that draws so many far from their homes, chief among them his compatriots. The 54-year-old Sridevi died February 24 in Dubai while in the UAE for a wedding. Police and prosecutors say she drowned in a hotel bathtub after losing consciousness, calling her death accidental. While Indian officials quickly cancelled her passport and prepared the other documents, Thamarassery said a needed police clearance slowed Sridevi’s repatriation. He received hundreds of calls from journalists, officials and others in the interim
Mumbai: Mortal remains of #Sridevi to be cremated with state honours. pic.twitter.com/OC64HUt2rv
— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2018
1:59 pm (IST)
Hema took to her Twitter handle:
#RIPSridevi – Soon after arriving back from the prayer meeting, Hema took to Twitter to share how the entire industry is mourning the loss of one of film industry’s most loved actor. https://t.co/RguX9fjTEC
— News18 (@CNNnews18) February 28, 2018
1:46 pm (IST)
Shekhar Kapur calls out the invasive public scrutiny surrounding the death of Sridevi and her last rites. The Mr India director wrote:
.. and finally as #Sridevi takes her last journey tomorrow from her home to the cremation ground , all the ugliness created by speculators will be burnt to ashes too. One day we will look back ourselves and ask, why are we so ghoulish? Were these really fans that loved her?
— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) February 27, 2018
1:27 pm (IST)
Sridevi will be cremated with full state honours in Mumbai today. Her mortal remains arrived at Celebration Sports Club in Lokhandwala, Mumbai, where her industry peers and admirers paid their last respects to the iconic actor. A Mumbai Police band in full dress uniform arrived at the Celebration Sports Club before the actor’s final journey, which will begin at 2 pm when her body will be transported to the cremation grounds. The cremation will take place at 3:30 pm in Vile Parle’s Seva Samaj Crematorium.
Mumbai: Mortal remains of #Sridevi wrapped in tricolour, to be cremated with state honours. pic.twitter.com/2XtBcEPHuz
— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2018
1:23 pm (IST)
Deepika Padukone, Siddharth Malhotra and Aditya Roy Kapur at the prayer meeting
12:45 pm (IST)
As a mark of respect to Sridevi, the Green Acres Co-op housing society — where the late actor shared a home with husband Boney Kapoor and their two daughters — have canceled their Holi celebrations. The announcement was put up on their notice board today morning, and stated that “There will be no music, rain, dance, colored water exchanges or the usual community lunch.” As the ambulance carrying the mortal remains of the Bollywood icon entered her residence in suburban Andheri last night, a large number of fans jostled for a glimpse of their favorite actor. Both sides of the road leading to Sridevi’s home were crowded with her fans, with some even climbing the trees to have a clear view. The ambulance, escorted by three police vehicles, brought the body home from the airport at around 10:30 PM soon after it arrived from Dubai where she died three days ago at the age of 54.
12:01 pm (IST)
Long queues of fans holding flowers in their hands and chanting prayers were seen as the body of the actor was brought to the venue at 9 am along with an entourage of family members. Nearly 200 policemen were present at the venue to keep the crowd in check. While the gates for the general public opened after 10 am,fans from across the country started queuing up to pay their last respects to the Chandni star since 6 in the morning. People have come from as far as Karnataka and Chennai to catch the last glimpse of their screen idol.Film-maker Karan Johar was the first among prominent personalities to arrive at the venue, followed by others like Arbaaz Khan and Farah Khan. Since then, practically every Bollywood celebrity has come to the prayer meeting to pay their respects.
11:26 am (IST)
Joining the continuously growing throng of mourners gathered at Celebration Sports Club in Lokhandwala, Madhuri Dixit, Akshay Khanna, Sonam Kapoor, Tabu, Jacqueline Fernandez and many more are among the latest to have arrived for the prayer meeting. The news of Sridevi’s death was first reported at around 3 am IST on Sunday, sent shock waves across India with those who knew her at a loss to explain how the star, who was present at a family wedding in Dubai last week, could suddenly breathe her last.
10:59 am (IST)
Watch Priya Prakash Varrier’s emotional tribute to Sridevi.
History never really says goodbye. History says, ‘See you later. pic.twitter.com/uGnRF0y77m
— Priya Prakash Varrier (@priyapvarrier) February 27, 2018
10:56 am (IST)
Joining the continuously growing crowds of mourners gathered at Lokhandwala’s Celebration Sports Club, where the prayer meeting for Sridevi is currently taking place, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sushmita Sen have come to pay their respects. Sridevi’s body was handed over to her family on Tuesday by the Dubai Police authorities after conducting an investigation into her death. The same evening, her body was flown back to Mumbai and her funeral is scheduled for today afternoon.
10:48 am (IST)
Even as the nation continues to mourn the passing of India’s first female superstar, and practically the entire Indian film fraternity along with legions of fans have gathered outside the Celebration Sports Club in Mumbai to pay their last respects, social media has been flooded with tributes to Sridevi. Priya Prakash Varrier, the girl who became an overnight sensation after a song clip from her debut feature film Oru Adaar Love went viral, added her voice to the internet’s collective sorrow. Priya posted a video of herself singing a classic Sridevi song, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, as a tribute to the star’s passing.
10:33 am (IST)
The news of Sridevi’s death was confirmed by brother-in-law Sanjay Kapoor late on Saturday (February 24) and ever since the entire nation and the film fraternity has not stopped mourning. Celebrities like Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Karishma Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Genelia Deshmukh, Shanaya Kapoor, Nagma, Ameesha Patel, Anshula Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Jaya Prada and many more visited the residence of Anil Kapoor to pay their respects. Sridevi’s co-star in many films Kamal Haasan and the Academy Award winner Resul Pookutty also showed up to pay their last tribute to Sridevi. A sea of people had also gathered to catch a final glimpse of their favourite actress and to pay their respects
10:04 am (IST)
After numerous speculations, Arjun Kapoor decided to open up about his relationship with his step-mother Sridevi, in an interview with Niranjan Iyengar on a TV show and revealed that he respects the superstar and doesn’t hold any grudges against her. “I respect anybody in my father’s life the same way because he would expect me to do that. So I respect her and don’t wish ill towards anyone,” the actor had said. Sridevi had always been quite encouraging of Arjun’s success in Bollywood. Arjun’s father, producer Boney Kapoor, married Sridevi in 1996 nine years after the queen of Indian cinema starred in his production Mr. India opposite his brother-in-law Anil Kapoor. The couple shares two daughters Jhanvi and Khushi together. Boney is also father to Arjun and Anshula Kapoor, whom he has with his first wife Mona Shourie.
10:00 am (IST)
With the prayer meeting for Sridevi having begun on time, members of the film fraternity have come out in full force to pay their last respects to the late actor. Aditya Thackeray, Arbaz Khan, Farah Khan, and Sonam Kapoor, among many others from the film fraternity have already visited the venue. Outside there’s a heavy police and security presence as thousands of fans have gathered to get a final glimpse of their heroine.
9:37 am (IST)
While fans and well-wishers have been streaming in, around and out of the Kapoor family’s Mumbai residences since the news of Sridevi’s sudden and tragic demise first broke, the prayer meeting for the actor, which is being held at the Celebration Club, has begun. Aditya Thackeray, Arbaz Khan , and others have reached the venue to pay their respects. The prayer hall has opened its doors for the public to pay their last respects to the Indian cinema icon. Sridevi’s body was handed over to her family on Tuesday by the Dubai Police authorities after conducting an investigation into her death. The same evening, her body was flown back to Mumbai and her funeral is scheduled for today afternoon.
9:14 am (IST)
With the prayer meeting for Sridevi expected to begin soon, family members have begun arriving at the venue. The number of fans gathered to pay their last respects to the Indian cinema legend has been swelling since early morning, with security having been tightened around the place. Sridevi passed away late Saturday night at a hotel room in Dubai where she, along with the entire Kapoor clan and a host of Bollywood celebrities, had gone for the wedding of her nephew Mohit Marwah.
9:04 am (IST)
Sridevi was in Dubai for a family wedding and had stayed back after the ceremonies, and died due to a grievous accident late on Saturday night. The newly married couple, Mohit Marwah (Boney Kapoor’s nephew) and Antara Motiwala, cut short their honeymoon to be with the family in their time of grief. The Kapoors had announced that before the 3:30 p.m. cremation today, well-wishers can visit the Celebration Club near Sridevi’s home, where a prayer meeting will be held between 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. With the actor’s body expected to arrive at the venue soon, security around the club has been tightened as the crowds there continue to swell.
8:50 am (IST)
Family and close friends of Sridevi have already started arriving at her and Boney Kapoor’s home, with Karan Johar having just reached there. Earlier Sridevi’s step-children, Arjun and Anshula Kapoor, had reached father Boney’s home. Friends, fans and the media who wish to get a last glimpse of the iconic actor have been asked to come to Celebration Sports Club in Lokhandwala near her home 9:30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m where her remains will be kept prior to the cremation, which is scheduled at 3:30 p.m.
8:30 am (IST)
The private jet carrying the mortal remains of Bollywood icon Sridevi landed at the Mumbai airport around 9:30 pm last night. There were 10 individuals on board including Boney Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Reena Marwah and Sandeep Marwah. Sridevi’s step-daughter Anshula Kapoor also went to the airport to receive the actor’s body amid heavy security, along with Anil Kapoor and his son Harshvardhan Kapoor. Anshula and Arjun were later photographed arriving at Boney Kapoor’s apartment. Though Arjun had earlier said that he “doesn’t meet and spend time” with Sridevi’s daughters Jhanvi and Khushi, the actor has been by their side since the past three days.
8:19 am (IST)
With a triumphant return with Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish almost after a 15-year-long hiatus, Sridevi proved why she was called female superstar of Bollywood. The actor was last seen in director Ravi Udyawar’s Mom, which featured her as Devki Sabarwal, who struggles hard to pacify her relationship with elder daughter Arya (Sajal Ali) until an untoward incident hits the family. The film received critical acclaim at the box office. However, Aanand L Rai’s upcoming film Zero would be Sridevi’s final movie. The actor will be seen in a special appearance for which she had already shot back in October in 2017. Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, the film will celebrate the “incompleteness in people” and will see SRK in an unusual avatar and that of a dwarf in the movie. Sridevi would reportedly play herself in the film and share screen space with Alia Bhatt and Karisma Kapoor. The scene is said to be a party sequence.
8:07 am (IST)
Director Hansal Mehta was planning to approach Sridevi for his project. The filmmaker was saddened by the sudden demise of the veteran actress, and has now decided to dedicate the project to her. As the news of Sridevi’s death shocked the entire nation on Sunday, Mehta took to Twitter to share his grief. “There will never be another Sridevi. I was about to approach her for a film. That film will now be dedicated to her. If it finds an actor,” he posted. The actress died on Saturday night at around 11 p.m. after suffering cardiac arrest in Dubai. Sridevi was in Dubai to attend the marriage function of Mohit Marwah, along with husband Boney Kapoor and younger daughter Khushi. Her elder daughter Jahnvi, who is due to make her Bollywood debut, was in Mumbai. Sridevi was last seen in Mom last year.
8:01 am (IST)
As the ambulance carrying the mortal remains of Bollywood icon Sridevi entered her residence in suburban Andheri, a large number of fans jostled for a glimpse of their favourite actor. Both sides of the road leading to Sridevi’s ‘Green Acres’ residence in Lokhandwala were crowded with her fans, with some even climbing the trees to have a clear view. The ambulance, escorted by three police vehicles, brought the body home from the airport at around 10:30 PM soon after it arrived from Dubai where she died three days ago at the age of 54. The area outside Sridevi’s building was barricaded from both sides with heavy police presence around it.
7:53 am (IST)
Family members, including filmmaker husband Boney Kapoor and stepson Arjun Kapoor, brought back the mortal remains on a private plane that had been parked at the Dubai airport since Sunday morning after the authorities there ruled out any foul play in her death and completed all formalities. The flight landed in Mumbai around 9.30 pm. Anil Ambani, wife Tina Ambani and Anil Kapoor were among those at the airport. A sea of people had also gathered to catch a final glimpse of their favourite actress and to pay their respects. Her body was then taken to the Lokhandwala residence of the Kapoors where scores of police personnel and private security men were deployed for crowd management. The others who called on the family in their hour of grief include Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and his wife Gauri, Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Tabu, Rekha and Farah Khan, Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi.
7:41 am (IST)
The news of Sridevi’s death was confirmed by brother-in-law Sanjay Kapoor late on Saturday (February 24) and ever since the entire nation and the film fraternity has not stopped mourning. After visiting the grieving family, Bappi Lahiri said he worked in 11 Silver Jubilee films with the deceased actress, who was “the one and only lady superstar”. He said that he would like to dedicate the song Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna to her memory: “Never say goodbye! She will always remain an integral part of our industry. She will always remain our superstar.” Waheeda Rehman, who shared screen space with Sridevi in films like Chandni, Himmatwala and Lamhe, was seen at Anil’s Kapoor’s Juhu residence. Anupam Kher and Welcome director Anees Bazmee were also spotted there, besides Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania director Shashank Khaitan. Sara Ali Khan was also seen at Anil’s Kapoor’s residence. Ramesh Sippy with wife Kiran Juneja, Akshay Kumar, Madhur Bhandarkar and actress Katrina Kaif also visited the mourning family on Tuesday
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