ACTOR SRIDEVI HAD A CARDIAC ARREST: She passed away

What’s new about the news. I think it’s our response to it that gives each news the space it deserves.

When the news came; I could not believe it.

I first saw the news on Youtube. Recently, I had also heard reports of the death of Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone. That was a hoax, and Sly Stallone himself released a video announcing that he was back from death. Considering this experience, my first response was to impose the sense of disbelief over the deluge of today’s morbid news.

I was finding it hard to cope with the news. The best way to cope with the situation was to find the truth out. So I googled it up. What else could I do? I do not have any personal access to her family members. I do not know their phone numbers of email ids. I am like the million or billion other Indians who have nothing to do on the face of this news but to pray for the health of their beloved film superstar. So we devour the news channels and online media.

Then I discovered that indeed, actress Sridevi passed away.

She seemed eternally young. Her recent movie, English Vinglish took the industry by storm, so to speak. This movie celebrated her return to the arena of Bollywood after a long absence. I was even expecting to watch her in some upcoming films.

She was fifty-four at the time of death. The cause of death is reported to be cardiac arrest. Her husband is Bonny Kapoor, the renowned Bollywood filmmaker.

Her debut film in Bollywood was Solva Sawan. Her pre-Bollywood career was very active with a number of south Indian movies.

One of her all-time favourite Bollywood classics is the film Mr India, which I watched in my teen years.

The news of Sridevi’s demise would be a dark one for all of us in India, especially for her fans and the admirers of Indian cinema.

The response that I have to the news is prayer. I pray for her soul. May her soul traverse to the stream of eternal consciousness and pass over to the next mission it has.