Sridevi Funeral: Bollywood Star Cremated in Mumbai

Sridevi has been cremated in Mumbai as thousands of fans gathered to pay their last respects.

Earlier, crowds clutching roses queued outside the Celebration Sports Club in the city to bid farewell to the Bollywood star.

A specially decorated truck carrying Sridevi’s body took hours to travel the 4 miles to the cemetery.

Sridevi Kapoor, 54, was cremated with full state honors. The actress died on February 24 in Dubai, where she was attending a family wedding.

According to police, her death had been “due to accidental drowning following loss of consciousness”. Sridevi was found in her hotel bathtub.

It had earlier been reported the actress died of cardiac arrest. The full post-mortem report has not yet been released.

Known simply as Sridevi, she was considered one of the very few Indian female superstars capable of huge box-office success without the support of a male hero. Sridevi appeared in nearly 300 films over five decades.

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Large numbers of police were deployed outside Sridevi’s house, on the procession route and outside the Vile Parle Seva Samaj crematorium where the body was taken.

Her life on screen began at the age of four. Sridevi started her career in the south Indian film industry, acting in movies in all four major languages of the region.

Sridevi was cast in her first adult role at the age of 13 – that of a woman avenging her lover’s death.

By 1978, she graduated to an extraordinary career in Bollywood, where although she knew neither the language nor the culture of the Hindi film industry, she became one of its biggest stars.

Sridevi starred in classics such as Mr. India, Chandni, ChaalBaaz and Sadma, becoming one of the only actresses to build a successful career in both south Indian and Bollywood films.

She was rumored to be the highest paid in her field and her star power and charisma persisted for years to come.

Sridevi decided to take a break from the film industry after her marriage to producer Boney Kapoor and the release of Judaai in 1997. She made a comeback in 2012, starring in English Vinglish.

In 2013, the government awarded Sridevi the Padma Shri – India’s fourth-highest civilian honor.