A sea of humanity poured onto the streets of Mumbai on Wednesday as thousands of fans joined Bollywood celebrities to bid a tearful adieu to actor Sridevi.
The actor was cremated with full state honours at the Seva Samaj Crematorium at Vile Parle.
Sridevi’s filmmaker husband, Boney Kapoor, lit the funeral pyre as the armed unit of the Mumbai Police fired empty rounds in the air with people shouting the slogan ‘Sridevi Amar Rahe’.
Sridevi’s body was dressed in a red-coloured golden-bordered Kanjeevaram saree. There was a large south Indian style ‘sindoor’ on her forehead and a heavy necklace.
Members of the Kapoor, Ayyapan and Marwah families were on board the cortege. The funeral procession began from the Celebrations Sports Club, passed by Sridevi’s home at the Green Acres complex, from there to Juhu and then to the Vile Parle crematorium.
It took almost one-and-a-half-hours to cover the 5-km distance.
The truck was decorated with white flowers her favourite colour and had a huge photo of the star in the front.
On the cortege, Boney Kapoor, his two brothers Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Kapoor, son Arjun and others were present.
In terms of attendance, the funeral was compared to that of Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi.
Thousands of people, including students, office-goers and others, waited on both sides of the roads, looked from building and bungalows’ terraces, climbed on signals, lampposts, trees and compound walls for the last glimpse of their beloved heroine. There was chaos at certain places and the police had to resort to mild baton charge to quell the mob.
Besides, a lot of people climbed onto the sky-walk off the Vile Parle suburban stations. And as the crowd swelled, it compounded into a problem. (DH)
