25,000 throng Mumbai roads to get a last glimpse of Sridevi

MUMBAI: 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, who 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. Cops draped the corpse in the tricolour and presented a guard of honour while the police band trumpeted a musical tribute. Not all Padma Shri recipients are granted this privilege.

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.

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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 Jhanvi, 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. 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 of people surged on to the nearby skywalk and the road below in a scene dangerously reminiscent of the Elphinstone Road station stampede. 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.