Sridevi, who is often hailed as India's first female superstar, was found unconscious in her bathtub, in Dubai, on February 24, by husband Boney Kapoor. The death certificate said that death was caused due to "accidental drowning."
What happened on the fateful evening would always remain a mystery but film trade analyst Komal Nahta has revealed what happened and he attributed them to Boney Kapoor, Sridevi's husband and only person other than Sridevi in that room.
Boney, Sridevi and daughter Khushi, had gone to Dubai to attend actor Mohit Marwah's wedding. While Boney and Khushi left, Sridevi planned to extend her stay for a few days more.
Boney had an important meeting to attend in Lucknow on 22nd, which he did. Sridevi had a shopping list, from daughter Janhvi, stored in her cell phone. She wanted to shop on February 21, but could not as she had forgotten her cell phone in Ras al-Khai mah.
So, she made the most of her time, relaxing in her room all through the day. On 22nd, too, she spent time with her friend, chatting and relaxing in her hotel room. This continued till 23rd too, making hubby Boney change her ticket to India.
Boney decided to surprise her, by coming back to Dubai.
Boney Kapoor recounted, "When she told me, 'Papa (that's how she addressed him), I'm missing you.' I also told her that I was missing her a lot. But I didn't tell her that I would be joining her in Dubai in the evening. Janhvi had seconded my idea of going to Dubai because she was scared, her mom, not used to being alone, would misplace her passport or some important document if she was alone."
He booked a flight to Dubai at 3:30 pm in the afternoon. Sridevi had called him while he was sitting in the lounge area of the international airport in Bombay. As he wanted to give her a surprise, he her that he would be busy in a meeting for the next few hours and that his phone might be switched off, so she shouldn't panic. He promised to call her back as soon as he was free from the meeting. The plan was to surprise her in her room at the Jumeirah Emirates Tower Hotel.
Boney reached the Dubai hotel at around 6.20 p.m, Dubai time, soon after landing in Dubai. While he was doing his check-in formalities at the hotel and taking a duplicate key to Sridevi's room, he asked the bell boy to delay taking his bag to the room as he was too excited about catching her by complete surprise.
The two had an excited and happy reunion. "But she told me, she had a hunch that I would come to Dubai to fetch her," Boney told Nahta, amid several sobs. The couple chatted for almost half an hour.
Boney went to freshen up. He suggested to Sridevi, that they should go for a romantic dinner. He asked Sridevi to postpone the shopping to the following day (Sunday). Sridevi then, headed for her bath.
Boney said, "I went to the living room while Sridevi went to the master bathroom to bathe and get ready."
He watched television for around 15 minutes, and then became restless. He realised that as it was Saturday, there would be a rush at the restaurants. It was around 8 pm then.
He shouted out to Sridevi twice. There was no response. He went to the bathroom and knocked at the door. He kept calling, and knocking and started panicking. He opened the door, as it had not been bolted from inside. He could hear the tap running. He opened the door, and found Sridevi completely immersed in water, from head to toe inside the tub.
It is still unclear on what happened, as there wasn't a drop of water outside the tub, so she couldn't even have had the chance to move her legs or arms or make a splash.
Sridevi's mortal remains were flown into Mumbai from Dubai on February 27, and a state funeral was held on February 28.