This was from the time I was still writing on sports on an everyday basis. It was a long day at work, and a few friends of mine were chilling out with a drink or two talking about our lives in Mumbai. It was late in the night and most of us were drunk enough to know we were drunk enough a few pegs back. That’s when a particular news item popped up on each of our phones through various sources. Sridevi was no more…
It was huge. She was just 55. All the intoxication went for a toss as nothing is more grounding than death. As we shared the grief of her passing away by talking about the body of work that impressed us over the years, one of us was busy typing into the phone. He had to figure out details about filing the obit. Was he the one who’d be sending out a copy? Would someone else be awake or less drunk to put out a copy about the death of one of the biggest stars of Indian cinema? Well… he did type out things about her. He immediately read up some information and embellished the copy. Though the copy had to be out there as soon as possible, it couldn’t be rife with errors, either. Especially when Sridevi was someone who captivated the audience in various languages. One mistake, and the entire country would screenshot the error and tear it down. Imagine the pressure. So, this friend, half-drunk, looking into his phone, typed out what he could, and returned for the next round while we spoke about the Sridevi we knew.
Read more here at: https://www.cinemaexpress.com/stories/trends/2020/apr/29/delayed-goodbyes-from-the-entertainment-journalist-irrfan-khan-irfan-rip-18231.html
Avinash Ramachandran 