Remembering Sridevi a year on: I didn’t know the extent of Sridevi's fame, says reporter

Dubai: I was having breakfast at 6am, getting ready for work, when I received a call from my editor informing me of Sridevi’s death in a hotel in Dubai.

I was shocked by the news as I had just one night ago, watched a video of Sridevi at a wedding celebration in UAE.

A quick call to officials in Dubai Police confirmed the news.

I drove to the police headquarters at Al Ghusais unaware of how the story would develop over the next three days.

It was a busy newsroom in Gulf News during the coverage of Sridevi’s death with mounds of information coming in from reporters who were at the Forensics Department and other locations.

Almost 40 hours after her death, Dubai authorities confirmed to me that Sridevi had died due to “accidental drowning” in a bathtub.

I spoke with an official in Dubai Police, following an autopsy and forensic investigation.

Experts revealed that she had drowned after losing consciousness in the bathtub in her room in a Dubai hotel.

Sources from Dubai Police told me that they also found traces of alcohol in her body and this may have led to the accident.

I alerted the paper on these details and they asked me to go live on Facebook to announce the results of the investigation to her fans all around the world.

Thousands of people watched the live videos and a feeling of sadness engulfed me for having to be the person to deliver the news of what happened to their favourite actor.

I knew that Sridevi was a famous actor in India but didn’t know the extent of her fame until I saw the reactions from the audiences and people from around the world.