Our Lives Will Never Be The Same Again: Boney Kapoor Opens Up About Losing Sridevi

After a lifetime under the spotlight, Indian cinema icon Sridevi was on Wednesday given a state funeral with her body wrapped in the tricolour and a gun salute by the Mumbai Police. The actor, who passed away following an "accidental drowning" late Saturday had ruled the big screen with her cinematic prowess, graceful dance moves and enchanting smile in a career spanning over five decades.

Her untimely demise has left a void in the hearts and minds of fans and film industry members but more so, in her family. The actor is survived by filmmaker-producer husband Boney Kapoor and two daughters- Jahnvi and Khushi Kapoor.

Hours after her cremation, Sridevi's extended family members including Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Rhea Kapoor and Mohit Marwah shared a heart-felt letter thanking the actor's well-wishers for their continuous love and support. They urged fans to envelope Sridevi's daughters with the same love and emotions.

Boney, too, took to Twitter and shared an open letter via Sridevi's Twitter handle wherein he opened up about losing a friend, wife and the mother of his two daughters. He expressed gratitude towards fans and well-wishers and his children from his first wife- Arjun Kapoor and Anshula Kapoor for being their pillars of strength all this while.

"To the world, she was their Chandni... the actor par excellence... their Sridevi... but to me she was my love, my friend, mother to my girls, my partner... To our daughters, she was everything... their life. She was the axis around which our family ran," read the letter.

He urged fans and media to respect their need to grieve privately. "If you need to talk of Sri, let it be of special memories that connect each of you to her," he wrote adding that they should respect her for the actor that she was and for the legacy that she leaves behind.

Boney further shared that his only two concerns right now are to protect his daughters and find a way to carry on without his beloved.

"Rest in peace, my love. Our lives will never be the same again."