Srideviji was always cordial, sweet and dignified: Tusshar Kapoor

“I met Srideviji many times as a child, when I accompanied my father to his film shoots in South India. Though we rarely went to the set, I’ve known her, over the years, as someone whose films we grew up watching and met at the ‘Jubilee’ functions of the movies she did with my dad. I also recall visiting her Chennai house. She wanted to have us over so Ekta and I had gone to her home. 

For people of my generation, the news of her untimely demise comes as a terrible shock. She was the only female star whose magic endured the ravages of time. She had been trending on all charts, not as someone who had retired and moved on as others of her age, but as a prominent and popular figure. So this seems unbelievable. 

Her fans are hardcore fans, not the kinds to move on to younger generations. They have been with her through her journey, so this is a rude shock for all. Her demise is losing an active living legend. Though I hadn’t met her in a long time, I remember sitting next to her while travelling for the world tour with my dad. She was always cordial, very sweet and dignified. 

Incidentally, we shared the same yoga instructor. Like a fan, I would ask him how it was to teach her yoga and he would reply that she is a fun-loving and mischevious peson in reality, but quite and dignified in public. Such was her magic that her fans wanted to see her as a superstar even at this age.” 

— As told to Hiren Kotwani