The mortal remains of Bollywood actress Sridevi are now being taken for cremation. Her body has been wrapped in tricolour. Sridevi, who died at the age of 54 on 24 February, will be cremated with state honours.
Earlier in the day, the Mumbai Police band reached the Celebration Sports Club where Sridevi’s body has been kept for public homage.
The state honours for the actress, who was conferred Padma Shri in 2013, included draping her body in the national tricolour, elaborate arrangements by the Mumbai Police, and a gun salute before the cremation.
Sridevi’s mortal remains arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday night, around 72 hours after her sudden and shocking demise in Dubai because of accidental drowning. Her funeral is scheduled for to take place today in the afternoon.
Her body was taken to her residence in Green Acres, Lokhandwala, from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in a convoy. Tight security arrangements were in place both on the way and outside the house, as a large number of fans had gathered to get a glimpse of their beloved actress.
Thousands of people including celebrities and Bollywood personalities mourned for actress Sridevi in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Since dawn, hundreds of teary-eyed fans and admirers of the late actress, some carrying flowers, had started queueing up outside the Celebration Sports Club at Lokhandwala Complex for a final ‘darshan’ of their idol.
After the flower-bedecked body was brought to the club premises, a steady stream of celebrities started alighting from their vehicles and were whisked inside to pay their last respects.
Among the early callers were Rekha, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Arbaaz Khan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Akshaye Khanna, Tabu, Farah Khan, Nitin Mukesh, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Vidya Balan, Sushmita Sen, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Madhur Bhandarkar, Deepika Padukone, Sanjay Leela Bhandsali, Farhan Akhtar, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, John Abraham, Sulabha Arya, Ajay Devgn and Kajol. Earlier, Salman Khan had visited Green Acres residence of Sridevi at midnight.
(With IANS inputs)