Tributes have been pouring in for superstar Bollywood actress Sridevi Kapoor, who has died aged 54.<\/p>\n
The actress, known simply as Sridevi, died of a heart attack on Saturday while at a family wedding in Dubai.<\/p>\n
Over five decades, she featured in almost 300 films, including classics Mr India, Chandni, ChaalBaaz and Sadma.<\/p>\n
She was considered one of the very few Indian female superstars capable of huge box office success without the support of a male hero.<\/p>\n
Top Bollywood figures, sporting giants and leading politicians reacted with shock, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “saddened” by her death.<\/p>\n
Crowds gathered outside Sridevi’s home in Mumbai as news emerged.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Sridevi’s husband, who is the producer Boney Kapoor, told the Indian news agency Asian News International that her body would be flown from Dubai to Mumbai on Monday.<\/p>\n
Why was she such a huge box office draw?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sridevi worked in films in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi languages.<\/p>\n Her acting career began at the age of four and by 13 she was cast in the adult role of a complicated woman avenging her lover’s death.<\/p>\n Sridevi debuted as a lead actress in a Bollywood film in 1978, soon becoming one of India’s biggest film stars.<\/p>\n The actress decided to take a break from the film industry after the release of Judaai in 1997.<\/p>\n She made a comeback in 2012, starring in English Vinglish.<\/p>\n In 2013, the Indian government awarded her the Padma Shri – the fourth highest civilian honour.<\/p>\n She was considered one of the very few Indian female superstars capable of huge box office success without the support of a male hero.<\/p>\n How did she die?<\/strong><\/p>\n The actress was in the United Arab Emirates to attend the wedding of her nephew, Mohit Marwah.<\/p>\n Her husband and daughter, Khushi, were with her when she passed away on Saturday, reports say.<\/p>\n Her brother-in-law, Sanjay Kapoor, said it had happened at about 23:00 local time (19:00 GMT), according to news site The Indian Express.<\/p>\n He did not provide any further details. Tributes have been pouring in for superstar Bollywood actress Sridevi Kapoor, who has died aged 54. The actress, known simply as Sridevi, died of a heart attack on Saturday while at a family wedding in Dubai. Over five decades, she featured in almost 300 films, including classics Mr India, Chandni, ChaalBaaz and Sadma. She was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":404405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[137],"tags":[14914,671,17372],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nBy: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"