Bella Jaisinghani (THE TIMES OF INDIA; March 1, 2018)

In a historic turnout for a celebrity funeral in recent memory, around 25,000 people lined the roads from Lokhandwala Complex in Andheri to Juhu to bid farewell to veteran actor Sridevi on Wednesday. She was accorded a state funeral. The last rites of the first female superstar of Hindi cinema—a Padma Shri awardee—were performed around 5pm. Husband Boney Kapoor lit the pyre, along with daughters Janhvi and Khushi.

Policemen draped the corpse in the tricolour and presented a guard of honour while the police band trumpeted a musical tribute.

Around 2.15pm, the cortege began its journey from Lokhandwala Complex to Vile Parle Seva Samaj crematorium at Pavan Hans.

The truck was bedecked with white flowers, mainly asters and carnations. A large portrait of the actor wearing a smile on her face was framed in flowers. Members of the family led by husband Boney Kapoor, daughter Janhvi, Anil, Arjun and Harshvardhan rode the truck bearing the glass casket with Sridevi’s body.

The actor was dressed in a deep red sari with gold border and adorned with vermilion in her hair and a big red bindi on her forehead.

The pace of the procession slowed down as thousands of fans lined the streets from Andheri to Juhu. Along the length of the route, people stood on dividers and pavements holding their cellphones aloft and shooting videos of the passing cortege. Bikers dodged police motorcycles as their pillion riders took pictures.

As the procession reached Pavan Hans around 4pm, multitudes surged on to the nearby skywalk.

Visiting dignitaries had a tough time too, for only 12 cars belonging to the immediate family were permitted to enter the crematorium compound.

Mourners, including Shah Rukh Khan, had to alight outside and walk some distance to the cemetery.

Celebrities from the film industry, business and politics turned out in strength to pay homage, first for the wake at Celebration Club, Lokhandwala, from 9.30am to 12.30pm, and thereafter at the crematorium. Amitabh Bachchan joined the funeral while wife Jaya, daughter Shweta and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan attended the viewing. There were Anil and Tina Ambani, Kumarmangalam Birla, Rekha, Vidya Balan, Ramesh Sippy, Madhuri Dixit, Subhash Ghai, Karan Johar, Hema Malini, Karisma Kapoor, Imtiaz Ali, Sanjay Nirupam, Sushmita Sen, Tanuja, Kajol and Ajay Devgn, and Amar Singh and Jayaprada, among others.
------------------------------
‘Let us all who loved Sri envelop her two little ones’

A statement issued by the Kapoor, Ayyappan and Marwah families on Wednesday said: “The past few days have been trying times for us as a family. Today, particularly, has been one of the hardest. We laid to rest a beautiful soul who has gone too soon. She leaves behind a legacy that is unique.

“The one thing that helped us all get through these last few days, was the amazing amount of love and support from everyone—be it her many colleagues to her innumerable fans, her caring friends and loving family, from across the country and the world.

“This outpouring of love is the memory that we would like Khushi and Janhvi to have of their mother… a woman who was loved unquestionably by everyone. Let us all who loved Sri envelop her two little ones, her life, as she often called them, with as much or more love than we gave Sri so that they can live their lives ahead with a little less ache in their hearts.”

Later in the evening, Boney Kapoor also issued a statement requesting that the family be allowed to grieve privately.