MUMBAI: Legend of Indian cinema Sridevi died at the weekend in Dubai, leaving behind a legacy of achievements in her film career.
Sridevi, 54, acted in 300 films in a career that began at age four and culminated in her becoming one of Hindi cinema’s biggest female superstars.
Police in Dubai where Sridevi had gone to attend a family wedding said that a post mortem showed her death on Saturday was due to drowning in her hotel room’s bathtub following loss of consciousness, contrary to earlier reports of her death due to cardiac arrest.
As millions of fans mourn the death of the film legend, hardly a few knows (late) Sridevi also had a younger sister – and she wasn’t much in the limelight.
Named Srilatha Yanger, the sisters were reportedly inseparable. In fact, Srilatha had a huge role to play in Sridevi’s successful career. According to a report by DNA, the younger sister would follow Sridevi’s every move with a camera and at night the two would see the results. That helped the legendary actress introspect and grow better.
Srilatha was her virtual assistant and her confidante. In the harsh entertainment industry, her sister’s company helped her soar. They were so close that when Srilatha got married, Sridevi felt incomplete without her.
Srilatha married cricketer Sanjay Ramaswamy in 1989.
Sridevi and Srilatha lost their dad in 1991 and their mother in 1996. And between the death of their parents, the sisters entered a bitter dispute – which ended up in court – over ownership of huge properties in Mumbai and Chennai.
The sisters ended up not talking for over two decades because Sridevi had to give such a huge lump sum to her sister and her husband as compensation.
They made up in 2013, the year Sridevi was awarded one of India’s greatest honours, the Padma Shri.
If a recent report by Bollywood Hungama is to be believed, Srilatha was reported to reveal some critical details about death of Sridevi. But so far she has not broken silence on the matter.
