Legendary actress Sridevi passed away on Saturday night. The 54-year old actor died in Dubai following a massive cardiac arrest.
Her death was confirmed by her brother-in-law Sanjay Kapoor to the Indian Express. Sridevi, her husband Boney Kapoor and daughter Khushi were in Dubai to attend a wedding.
“Yes, it is true that Sridevi passed away. I just landed here, I was in Dubai and now I am flying back to Dubai. It happened roughly around 11.00-11.30. I don’t know more details yet,” Sanjay Kapoor told IE.
The actor born as Shree Amma Yanger Ayappan in 1963 in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, is survived by her husband and two daughters Jhanvi and Khushi.
Sridevi made her debut as a child artist in Thunaivan, at the mere age of four. She went on to play more roles across the southern industries before making her debut with Julie in Bollywood, in a Hindi remake of the Malayalam hit Chattakari.
At the tender age of 13, she played her first adult role in K Balachander’s film Moondru Mudichu and acted as Rajinikanth’s stepmother.
Sridevi soon became a leading actor in the south and Hindi films and was known for her ability to act, dance as well as comic timing. She acted with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and many more superstars but always held her own on screen.
Sridevi’s first foray into Bollywood as a heroine was with Bharathiraaja’s 1978 remake of Pathinaru Vayadhinile titled Solva Salwan.
Her performance as a mentally unstable woman in Moondram Pirai won her accolades and is still talked about as among her career best. Even as she picked up award after award and won fans across the world, her personal life was mired in controversy. She fell in love with the much married producer Boney Kapoor, giving ample fodder for the gossip mills. The two of them married in 1996 and Sridevi took a break from films. The 1997 Hindi film Judaai was her last major picture.
But the actor was back with a bang in 2012 with English Vinglish, once again proving that she still had a hold over the box-office. She also became active in the television space and made an appearance on Aamir Khan’s Satyameva Jayate episode where a child sexual abuse survivor spoke movingly about how her films had helped the person cope with the trauma.
Sridevi starred in two other films, Puli (Tamil) and Mom (Hindi) after her comeback.
She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013. (Agencies)