She Lay There in a Red Sari, Serene in Death: Hema Malini Bids Final Farewell to Dear Friend Sridevi

Sridevi's untimely demise at the age of 54 has sent the entire nation into a tizzy. With fans, family members and film industry colleagues mourning the loss of Bollywood's first female superstar, the shock waves are palpable even to those who don't refer to themselves as cinema lovers. The actor passed away due to "accidental drowning" in Dubai where she had gone to attend a family wedding. Sridevi's mortal remains were handed over to her family on Tuesday by the Dubai Police authorities after conducting investigations into the circumstances surrounding her death. Sridevi's fans were seen queuing up outside the Lokhandwala Celebrations Sports Club where her body is kept for 'darshan' to pay their last respects. Over 200 policemen are currently deployed at the venue to control the crowd and maintain law and order. The fans and well-wishers had started to line up since 6 in the morning even though the gates were only opened at 10 am.

Aishwara Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Sushmita Sen, Shahid Kapoor-Mira Rajput, Ajay Devgn-Kajol, Madhuri Dixit, Jaya Bachchan, Esha Deol and Hema Malini among others had paid their last respects to Bollywood's veteran.

Soon after arriving back from the prayer meet, Hema took to Twitter to share how the entire industry was mourning the loss of one of film industry's most loved actor whose craft spans languages across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada apart from Hindi.

"Paid my last respects to Sridevi. The entire industry was there grieving, some on the verge of breakdown. Such was her aura & magic in films. She lay there, beautiful in a red saree, serene in death & totally at peace," she wrote.

She further shared that it is only right that the industry be allowed to grieve in peace as the void is almost impossible to fill. "The whole film industry is trying to come to terms with this tragedy. We have lost a wonderful member whose life has been dedicated to the entertainment field for so many decades. It is only right that we be allowed to grieve in peace," she wrote.

She said her final goodbye and wrote, "Arrangements were so well made that the whole atmosphere was tranquil, everything was smooth & executed with finesse - befitting the departed soul. Goodbye dear friend!"

The veteran actor's body will be cremated today at 3:30 pm.