NEW DELHI: Bollywood Actress Sridevi, considered to be the first female superstar of the Indian cinema, died on Saturday in Dubai, where she had gone to attend the wedding ceremony of his nephew.

While some of her family members returned to Mumbai from Dubai after the wedding, Sridevi and her younger daughter Khushi stayed back.

According to reports, Sridevi's filmmaker husband Boney Kapoor also returned to Mumbai but flew back to Dubai and went to her room at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel to "surprise" her with dinner. The couple had a brief conversation before Boney Kapoor invited Sridevi for a dinner, Khaleej Times reported.

The actress later went to the washroom and did not come out. Kapoor knocked on the door but when he didn't get any response, he forced open the door and found Sridevi lying motionless in the bathtub full of water.

When the reports of her demise surfaced, it was said the actress died of cardiac arrest. However, her family said she did not have a heart condition. She was 55. Her sudden death has also fuelled a debate on whether measures taken to lose weight and look young had taken their toll.

Sridevi, who over the years became quite a fashion icon -- sometimes giving tough competition to her daughters -- commanded popularity like few others.



What gave a dramatic twist to Sridevi's sudden death was her forensic report, which said the actress died of "accidental drowning" in her hotel bathtub after losing consciousness.

"Following the completion of post mortem analysis, Dubai police headquarters today stated that the death of the Indian actress Sridevi occurred due to drowning in her hotel apartment's bathtub following loss of consciousness," Dubai government's media office said on Monday.

Executive Editor of UAE's Khaleej Times, Vicky Kapur, told ABP News that the Dubai Police will record the statement of Boney Kapoor in connection with wife Sridevi's death. He said Boney Kapoor was with Sridevi in her room when the actress died in her washroom.

However, it is not clear whether Boney Kapoor was with Sridevi when she died of "accidental drowning" or not because of the several versions of the incident.

News portal Pink Villa quoting a leading daily said Sridevi was alone in her hotel room and it was the hotel staff that found Sridevi lying on the bathroom floor.

When she did not attend to multiple doorbells, the hotel staff broke into her room, it said. She also had a pulse at that time, it added.

The latest report of accidental drowning only deepens the mystery surrounding Sridevi's death.