Indian actress Sridevi Kapoor died of accidental drowning this weekend after attending a family wedding, according to new reports.
It was originally reported that the 54-year-old actress, known as Sridevi, died of cardiac arrest on Saturday.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The case has been passed to Dubai Public Prosecution which will carry out “regular legal procedures.”
“Traces of alcohol” were found in Sridevi’s body, which “may have led to the accident,” says Gulf News. More information is expected to be revealed after the results of a toxicology report are released.
Sridevi “was considered one of the very few Indian female superstars capable of huge box-office success without the support of a male hero,” the BBC reports.
After starting her acting career at the age of four, Sridevi got her first leading role in a Bollywood film in 1979. During a decades-long career in Indian cinema, she appeared in films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.
As news of her death spread, “crowds gathered outside Kapoor’s Mumbai home” to pay tribute to an actor who “riveted audiences for nearly five decades,” says The Guardian.
Politicians, celebrities and fans mourned the actor on Twitter:
-
The ultimate films of 2025 by genreThe Week Recommends From comedies to thrillers, documentaries to animations, 2025 featured some unforgettable film moments
-
Political cartoons for January 3Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include citizen journalists, self-reflective AI, and Donald Trump's transparency
-
Into the Woods: a ‘hypnotic’ productionThe Week Recommends Jordan Fein’s revival of the much-loved Stephen Sondheim musical is ‘sharp, propulsive and often very funny’
-
Will the mystery of MH370 be solved?Today’s Big Question New search with underwater drones could finally locate wreckage of doomed airliner
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Normalising relations with the Taliban in AfghanistanThe Explainer The regime is coming in from the diplomatic cold, as countries lose hope of armed opposition and seek cooperation on counterterrorism, counter-narcotics and deportation of immigrants
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
