Actress Sridevi (File | AFP)
CHENNAI: Sridevi, who’s had a stellar acting career, passed away around midnight on Saturday in Dubai due to cardiac arrest. She was 54. The veteran actor had reportedly gone to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah’s wedding. The news of her unexpected demise has come as a rude shock to the film fraternity and her fans.
Born in Sivakasi on August 13, 1963, Sridevi made her acting debut as a child artiste in Thunaivan (1969), and went on to win the Kerala Best Child Artiste Award in 1971 for Poompatta.Later, she got a big break through K Balachander’s Moondru Mudichu and Bharathirajaa’s 16 Vayathinile, and acted in several successful films with stars like Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth in Tamil.
In a career spanning over four decades, she starred in over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. Some of her popular films include Himmatwala (opposite Jeetendra), Meri Biwi Ka Jawaab, Lamhe, Devaraagam, Prema Kanuka and so on.
After a brief hiatus of 15 years, Sridevi made a comeback with Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish in 2012. Last year, she starred in Mom which fetched an overwhelmingly positive response from both the audience and critics. Sridevi was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2013.
In Tamil, her last film was the Vijay-starrer Puli, and she’ll be posthumously seen in a special appearance in Shah Rukh Khan’s forthcoming film, Zero.Her last rites will be performed on Monday in Mumbai. She is survived by husband Boney Kapoor and two daughters, Jhanvi and Khushi.
