A steady stream of mourners from the film fraternity walked in and out of Anil Kapoor’s Juhu bungalow all through Monday but the late actress’s mortal remains are still in Dubai
MUMBAI MIRROR (February 27, 2018)

Since Sunday when it was announced that Sridevi had passed away, hundreds of fans started gathering outside her Lokhandwala residence in Mumbai and stayed put even when cops and the gathered media tried telling them that there was no one home. The actress’s body has yet to be flown down to Mumbai from Dubai where she passed away. Her husband, Boney Kapoor, and younger brother-in-law, Sanjay Kapoor, were waiting all day on Sunday and Monday for her body to be handed to them so they could fly it back to Mumbai in Anil Ambani’s private jet for the last rites.

Back home, filmmaker Karan Johar and his designer friend Manish Malhotra had reportedly arrived at Boney’s residence early on Sunday and whisked away Sridevi’s daughters, Janhvi and Khushi, to their uncle Anil Kapoor’s Juhu bungalow where they were kept away from the media glare and even mourners. Janhvi is making her debut in Karan’s Dhadak, the Hindi remake of the Marathi hit Sairat, scheduled for release on July 20, opposite Shahid Kapoor’s brother Ishaan Khatter who stopped by on Sunday evening with Neelima Azeem to pay his condolences. He reportedly spent some time with his grieving leading lady. Their mentor made frequent trips in and out of the bungalow, extremely protective of the girls and checking on them constantly.

On Monday, as more friends and colleagues from the film fraternity visited Anil’s residence, and the media delegation swelled, as did the number of fans, the entire street was cordoned off. But that didn’t stop the stream of mourners. Around 150 fans from Karnataka and around 30 from Rajasthan stormed the citadel, even as police bandobast was increased and private security called in to manage the crowd. Additional traffic cops were also brought in to divert the traffic.

Inside the bungalow everyone waited for some clarity on when Sridevi’s body would arrive so they could start making preparations for the funeral. An actor told Mirror that the extended family — Anil, wife Sunita with children Sonam, Rhea and Harshvardhan, Boney’s children Arjun and Anshula Kapoor, Sanjay’s wife Maheep and daughter Shanaya – were inconsolable. Sonam’s beau Anand Ahuja came at 4 am to avoid the shutterbugs.

Oscar-winning sound designer, editor and mixer Resul Pookutty told Mirror on Monday evening, “The family is not sure what’s happening in Dubai. All the necessary clearances are being done as we speak. Janhvi and Khushi are with friends, not many guests are allowed to visit them as it’s taking an emotional toll on them. ”

Choreographer Saroj Khan was teary-eyed as she remembered one of her favourite actresses. “Sridevi was a gorgeous woman, a beautiful dancer and artist. What more can I say about her!” the industry veteran eulogised, saying she was lucky she got to work with the late actress many times. “She was more like a child to me. I taught her like I’d teach my own daughter. After she stepped out of the industry there wasn’t much communication between us, but we were in touch, off and on. The family is really worried, everybody was crying, right from the elders to the youngsters,” she narrated.

Rajinikanth who had flown down to Mumbai for the funeral is staying at a Bandra five-star and on Monday drove down to Amitabh Bachchan’s Juhu bungalow, spending time with him while the two actors waited for news from Dubai. Late in the evening on Monday, his wife Latha dropped by at Anil’s residence to pay her condolences.

Other South stars Venkatesh, M Nassar, Nagma and Kamal Haasan turned up at Anil’s residence to pay their respects. Sridevi co-star in 27 films, Kamal, left the crowd in a frenzy as he entered and exited the narrow Juhu lanes. As fans ran towards his car, Kamal had to spend 15 minutes sitting inside his car, before the wooden gates opened to let him in. His actor-children, Shruti and Akshara, along with his ex-wife, Sarika, had dropped by earlier on Monday.

Among the mourners were Riteish Deshmukh and wife Genelia, Madhuri Dixit and husband Dr Sriram Nene, Jaya Prada with politician Amar Singh drove by too. Sara Ali Khan, Tabu, Deepti Naval, Farah Khan, Farhan Akhtar with mother Honey Irani, Ritesh Sidhwani and Shekhar Kapur were also spotted at the house.

Anil’s neighbour and family friend Anupam Kher made repeated visits, comforting distraught newlyweds Mohit Marwah and Antra Motiwala. Ranveer Singh arrived with Deepika Padukone around 8 pm. Karisma Kapoor was there too.

Actor and family friend Satish Kaushik kept walking in and out of the bungalow reiterating that everyone was in shock. “Janhvi is with her friends on another floor, I didn’t have the heart to face her. I have seen her grow up and I can’t see her in grief. I spoke to Boney over the phone, he was inconsolable,” Satish told Mirror.

While leaving the Juhu bungalow, an upset Divya Dutta refused to talk about the scene inside, “I can just say that the family is trying to face the tragedy, trying to be strong. God bless them for standing together and being there for each other,” she said.

Javed Akhtar who has penned the iconic Mr India charbusters “Hawa Hawai” and “Kaate Nahi Kat te”, revealed that he and his actress-wife Shabana Azmi had decided to cancel their Holi bash on Wednesday in light of Sridevi’s demise.

“I was numb after I spoke to Boney. We don’t know how to react. Sri was always so full of life — talking, laughing, joking! My heart goes out to Boney and the children,” Javed told the gathered media. —With inputs from Shravan Shah, Avinash Lohana, Natasha Coutinho and Sanyukta 
Iyer