Dhaka, Feb 28 (Just News): The body of Bollywood icon Sridevi, who died in Dubai, was flown back to her home in Mumbai late on Tuesday night.
Hundreds of her fans and well-wishers waited to pay their last respects to her before the funeral later this afternoon.
A chartered plane—Embraer-- provided by a company belonging to India’s top industrialist Anil Ambani carried the mortal remains of the 54-year-old actress from Dubai at around 9:30pm Indian time.
Sridevi’s family members, including her film-maker husband Boney Kapoor and stepson Arjun Kapoor, brought her body in the private jet after three days of uncertainty over her unexpected death on Saturday in Dubai.
Hundreds of fans had waited outside the Kapoor residence in Lokhandwala as the ambulance carrying Sridevi drove from the airport with a police escort to her residence in Lokhandwala in Mumbai’s suburb Andheri, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
Anil Ambani, his wife Tina Ambani and Sridevi’s brother-in-law and actor Anil Kapoor were among those at the airport when the plane landed.
The mortal remains of arguably the first woman superstar of the silver screen will be kept at the Sports Club Garden in Lokhandvala Complex where people can pay their last respects from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm tomorrow. The last rites will be held at 3:30 pm, according to a statement issued by her family.
Fans have started gathering outside Mumbai's Celebration Sports Club amidst heavy security.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Dubai Public Prosecutors Office, after a thorough probe, "released" to the family the body of the actress who died in the bathroom of a hotel here three days back. The Dubai police said she accidentally drowned following loss of consciousness. However, it did not say what caused her to lose consciousness.
As the ambulance carrying Sridevi's mortal remains 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 Indian time soon after it arrived from Dubai.
Veteran actress Shabana Azmi and her husband Javed Akhtar were among those who visited the residence soon after the arrival of the body.
Sridevi, known as Indian cinema's first woman superstar, leaves behind her husband and their two daughters Jahnvi and Khushi.
Sridevi’s final journey will commence at 2:00pm from Celebration Sports Club to Vile Parle Seva Samaj Crematorium and Hindu Cemetery," the statement issued by her family said.
In Mumbai, Bollywood personalities and friends visited the family in the home of Anil Kapoor. With their father Boney Kapoor away, Sridevi’s daughters Khushi and Jahnvi were at their uncle's Juhu home.
"For me it's the most painful thing I have dealt with after my dad's passing away. And her face is coming in front of me again and again," actor Rani Mukherji told PTI.
"The love she had for me was so tremendous and intense that I feel somewhere that I have lost a guiding light in my life. She has been my inspiration personally and professionally. She was very close to me. She was like my 'maasi' I would say. She was someone I looked up to. I just feel there is one more person I have lost in my life I loved and who loved me back," Rani said.
The others who have called on the family in their hour of grief include Shah Rukh Khan, and his wife Gauri, Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Tabu, Rekha and Farah Khan.
(Justnews/ys/1330)
