Sridevi's ashes to be immersed in Rameswaram today

Mumbai: An urn carrying the ashes of Bollywood superstar Sridevi was taken to Chennai on Friday by her husband Boney Kapoor.

Her ashes will be immersed in the sea off the holy island town of Rameswaram today.

Sridevi - Indian cinema’s first female superstar was cremated on Wednesday, 4 days after she breathed her last in Dubai at around 11 pm.

Wrapped in the tri-colour Padma Shri Sridevi’s mortal remains were accorded full State Honours at the Celebration Sports Club Garden No 5, Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri West this morning.

The final journey commenced at around 2 pm for Vile Parle Seva Samaj Crematorium and Hindu Cemetery.

Thousands of fans had gathered on the streets to bid adieu to their favourite superstar.

The untimely demise of the beloved actress had plunged the entire nation and millions of her fans worldwide in a state of shock and disbelief.

The veteran actress breathed her last on Saturday at around 11 pm.  She died of drowning in the bathtub of room number 2201 of Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel after loss of consciousness.

Her mortal remains were brought to India by a private aircraft owned by industrialist Anil Ambani. The jet arrived at around 9:30 pm on Tuesday at the Mumbai International Airport. Her body was then taken to her husband Boney Kapoor's Lokhandwala residence.

Sridevi was in Ras Al Khaimah in UAE last week, along with husband Boney Kapoor, daughter Khushi and other relatives to attend nephew Mohit Marwah’s wedding ceremony.

Born in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu on August 13, 1963, Sridevi began her career at the age of four in the devotional film Thunaivan in which she played Lord Murugan.

Besides Tamil, Sridevi worked in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi productions. She went on to become one of the most formidable actresses of the 1980s and 1990s in Hindi cinema. From a child artiste, she became Indian cinema’s first female superstar.

She is remembered for her spellbinding performances in some of the iconic Bollywood films like Mr. India, Nagina, Lamhe, Sadma, ChalBaaz, Chandni, Khuda Gawah, among many others in different Indian languages. Sridevi, who made a comeback to Bollywood in 2012 with English Vinglish after a long break of 15 years, was last seen in Mom in 2017. She shot for a cameo appearance in October for Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming film Zero which is expected to release in December this year.

(With PTI inputs)