Sridevi in Ram Gopal Varma's Kshana Kshanam (Image courtesy - Ram Gopal Varma)
Highlights
- Ram Gopal Varma had directed Sridevi's 1992 film Kshana Kshanam
- "I hate God for killing her and I hate Sridevi for dying," wrote RGV
- Sridevi was all set to appear in 2018's Zero
Sridevi, who died suddenly in Dubai at the age of 54, leaves behind her
a broken-hearted world, among them filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma who has been vocal, and frequently so, about his adoration of the actress. RGV, as he is known, posted a series of tweets and shared a collection of memories about Sridevi - how he used to walk from actor Nagarjuna's office to Sridevi's Chennai home and his first ever meeting with her for a film. "I hate God for killing Sridevi and I hate Sridevi for dying," RGV titled his post. He also tweeted: "Is Sridevi really dead? Can somebody wake me up and tell me it's just a bad dream?" and posted old pictures of himself with the late star.
If Ram Gopal Varma seems lovelorn in his posts, he was publicly so when Sridevi was alive. RGV, who directed the actress in the films
Kshana Kshanam and Govinda Govinda, dedicated a whole chapter in his autobiography to her. He has also waxed eloquent about his disappointment seeing Sridevi in a domestic role after she married producer Boney Kapoor. "Everyone can have a crush on anyone, be it on a real person or a celebrity, you enjoy that feeling of high. It is almost like a drug. To see Sridevi making tea in Boney Kapoor's kitchen was a huge letdown. I won't forgive him because he brought the angel down from heaven to the kitchen of his apartment," he told news agency PTI in 2015.
By all accounts, Ram Gopal Varma's publicly professed admiration for his wife didn't go down at all well with Boney Kapoor who reportedly sent the filmmaker a legal notice after he changed the name of a planned film from Saavitri to Sridevi in 2014.
Sridevi died yesterday of
a cardiac arrest in Dubai where she and several family members were attending the wedding of actor Mohit Marwah, a nephew of Boney and Anil Kapoor. Star of films such as
Chandni,
Lamhe,
Mr India and
Nagina, Sridevi's last film was 2017's
MOM. She will be seen posthumously in a special appearance in Shah Rukh Khan's
Zero later this year.
Sridevi is survived by her husband and daughters Janhvi and Khushi.
(With inputs from PTI)