'Sridevi was down with fever when she went to the UAE'

Pinky Reddy, the late Sridevi's childhood friend, reveals that the actress wasn't in the best of health when she left for Ras Al-Khaimah last week to attend nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding

Sridevi with Pinky Reddy. Pic/Instagram

"I have lost a sister," says Pinky Reddy, remembering her childhood friend Sridevi. The two met when the actor was all of eight years old and went on to become close friends. One to know the woman behind the larger-than-life superstar, Reddy has been witness to it all - from Sridevi's steady rise as a South actor to one who captured the imagination of the entire country.'

"My father was one of the co-producers of Chandni (1989), so I have seen her professional rise. It [her demise] is shocking. We are devastated," says Reddy. She reveals that the actor wasn't in the best of health when she left for Ras Al-Khaimah last week to attend nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding. "I spoke to her the day she was leaving for Dubai. She was down with fever and was on antibiotics. She was feeling tired, but she said that she has to go for the wedding."

Sridevi with Pinky Reddy at the latter's daughter's baby shower in November

The speculations surrounding Sridevi's death have left her disturbed. "It hurts me that people are making her death into such a joke. The messages [being circulated] make me angry. People are saying that she underwent liposuction and took fat burners. Why can't people remember the good things about her instead of talking about all this? After she has gone, how can they even utter such mean and vile things? I spoke to Boney [Kapoor] yesterday, he is shattered."

Dismissing mischievous rumours that the couple had been facing a rough time, Reddy clarifies, "They were such a lovey-dovey couple. I doubt if they ever had fights. They were in love and were so happy together. Such things shouldn't be said at such an unfortunate time." To her fans, she may be the spunky Hawa Hawai or the mild-mannered Shashi. But Reddy says she will always remember Sridevi as the warm-hearted person who put her family and close friends above all else. "She had specially flown down to Hyderabad for two hours to attend my daughter's baby shower [last November]. Can you imagine that? That was the last time I saw her."

Also read: Sridevi's last Bollywood outing

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