Komal Nahta, the film critic, happens to be a very close friend of Boney Kapoor. Despite the tragedy that he has gone through, Boney is still picking up his phone to talk to his well-wishers. One such well-wisher who called him was Komal Nahta and like everyone else wanting to know what happened that night, Komal too asked Boney. Now, Komal wrote it in such a way that it looks like tragedy movie script. What happened is pretty much what we have heard from the media, except there’s no cardiac arrest or drug overdose or the fact that the hotel staff discovered her first.
Kapoor reportedly told his friend of 30 years, trade analyst Komal Nahta, about his unscheduled trip to Dubai to surprise Sridevi and how barely two hours later he found her dead in a “bathtub full of water”.
Boney himself doesn’t seem to know what happened as when he got into the bathroom, Sridevi was already underwater. Maybe he panicked and called his relatives to tell them that Sri had a cardiac arrest. No one, except Sri, truly knows what happened. Whether or not this story is true, we don’t know for sure. Many people thought that the “surprise” story was made-up because what couple married this long would do this. Boney also said that this is the first time he has left Sri alone in a foreign country all by herself. There’s no mention of her not feeling well, as reported by her childhood friend.
It could be that something else happened and the family does not want to disclose it. After all, it is their choice. If this is truly what happened, then it must be that God wanted her back and that was it. It’s just that if this was a movie ending, no one would be happy with it. But unfortunately, this is real life and not reel life!
Boney Kapoor shares what happened to Sridevi on 24th February
For some reason, Komal starts his story by sharing that Boney once did the same thing at the beginning of his love story with Sridevi in 1994. That’s not relevant here and it’s not nice to bring up the past when he was still married to Mona Kapoor and was the father of two young children. Still, the purpose of bringing up the past in this context was to show that Boney has done the “surprise” visit before and no one should be shocked that he did it again at the age of 62 years old.
February 22nd and 23rd
Sridevi was supposed to go shopping for Janhvi, but could not as she supposedly left her phone in the old hotel they were staying. She stayed in her room the whole day and the day after as well, supposedly with a friend. She did the same thing, laze around as told by Boney, on the 23rd and because of this, he had to postpone her ticket.
– It is strange how despite being so close to her kids and husband, Sri chose to stay all alone for three days in her hotel room just by herself. Boney doesn’t mention how she got her phone back.
February 24th
Boney spoke to Sridevi on the 24th in the morning. She told him that she missed him and he told her the same. He was already planning a trip to Dubai to surprise her that evening. On the same note, Boney said that Janhvi agreed that he should go because she was scared that her mother was all alone and was not used to being alone. She was saying this in case her mother misplaced an important document or her passport. Boney also mentioned how the whole time they were married, they have only be apart when overseas twice but even that Boney said he had a friend’s wife accompany Sri so that she would not be alone. He went on to say that the Dubai trip was the only time Sri has been alone for two days abroad.
– It’s strange how she was all alone for two days and on the second day, they are suddenly worried that she will lose per passport or documents even if she stayed in the room the whole time.
Boney took a flight to Dubai at 3.30 pm. He said she called him while he was at the lounge and he made up some story of how he was busy because he wanted to surprise her there. So, he reached the Jumeirah Emirates Tower Hotel at about 6.20 pm and asked for a duplicate key to her room. Let’s just quote the rest directly in his words because we don’t know how to rewrite that:
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 hugged like teenage lovers once Boney opened the door with his duplicate key. “But she told me, she had a hunch that I would come to Dubai to fetch her,” Boney recalled amidst sobs. The couple hugged, kissed and chatted for almost half an hour.
Boney then suggested that they freshen up and go for dinner. Sri decided to go for a bath while Boney watched TV in the living room. After 15-20 minutes, Boney went in to check on her since he didn’t get any response when he asked her to hurry up. The time then was 8 pm, Dubai time. He went to the bathroom’s door and heard the tap on and called her. But there still was no reply, so once that happened, he panicked and opened the unlocked door. Once inside, Boney saw Sri lying in the tub, which was full of water. Sri was deep inside the bathtub, from head to toe.
– Let’s the description of what followed be in the original context, the way it was written.
Devastated, he reached out to her but watching her motionless, he feared the worst. Sridevi had drowned! Boney’s world had come crashing down. He himself was drowned in sorrow and misery as the centre of his world had passed on to another world.
– The explanation of how this happened in the original text:
Whether she first drowned and then became unconscious, or she first fell asleep or unconscious and then drowned, nobody will, perhaps, ever know. But she probably never got a chance to even struggle for a minute because had she moved her arms and legs in panic while drowning, there would be some water spilling out of the tub. But there wasn’t a drop of water on the floor outside the tub area.
– This whole thing is just sad because it’s something that could have been avoided. Still, she went without feeling anything which is similar to passing away in your sleep. Hopefully, now she is resting in peace.
– There’s a big gap from the time that he found her to the time he called the police to the time that the news got out. It seems that he had to get his story straight before calling the cops and letting the news out that Sridevi died of a cardiac arrest.
– Boney knew the hungama/circus and shock that the news of Sridevi’s death will cause. He was well-aware that he was married to a superstar, the favourite actress of many people. We forgot who it was, but someone mentioned how once when they went to Cannes Film Festival, Boney had to find a suite for her to stay in. He had to find one during the festival and the prices were not that pretty. Anil Kapoor, who also attended at the same time, choose to stay at a small budget hotel at a way cheaper way. Boney did what he did because he knew who he was married to. This coming from a man, who declared that his company was bankrupt many years ago. He wanted to make her comfortable at any price and at any rate.
– Hopefully that these lowlife TV channels don’t take this whole story and turn it into a drama and have other people re-enacting it. They spent days explaining the difference between cardiac arrest and heart attack. Then the cause of death changed, the whole narration changed and became even more complicated.
Komal shared how close he and Boney are, so much so that Sri wondered what these two spoke about when they talked to each other more than three times daily:
It was after a few years that I started meeting Sridevi with Boney as his better half. She must’ve known about our friendship because she once told me, “Komal, you know something. I’ve never seen Boney so much at peace with himself and with such a broad smile on his face as when he is talking to you on telephone. Tell me, what do you both talk that he is always so happy while talking to you!” I had laughed out loud then and had replied, “Sridevi ji, trust me, we talk only trade, nothing but trade.” The lady had continued, “Main Boney se hamesha poochhti hoon, how come, you don’t have the same smile when you speak with me?” I laughed even louder, and she joined me, laughing indulgently and innocently.