SUPER STAR *SRIDEVI*

SRIDEV KAPOOR, Bollywood actress who starred in hundreds of films and was known as India's first female superstar, died on Saturday in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. She was 54.

The Dubai police said on Monday that she had drowned in a hotel bathtub after loosing consciousness, initial reports had said the cause of death was cardiac arrest.

Sridevi, who went by a single name professionally, was one of the few Bollywood actresses to headline box-office  hits without a man beside her in a leading role. 

''Saddened by the untimely demise of noted actor Sridevi,'' Narendra Modi the prime minister of India, wrote on Twitter. ''She was a veteran of the film industry, whose long career included diverse roles and memorable performances.''

Sridevi was 4 when she appeared in her first film, the start of career that would span more than four decades. She worked on  -Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam   -and Kannada language in South India before moving to the Hindi stage.

Among her best known works were  ''Mr. India'' [1987],  ''ChaalBaaz'' [1989], ''Chandani'' [1989] and ''Lamhe'' [1991].

After marrying the film producer  Boney Kapoor in 1996, she retired from acting for 15 years but returned with  ''English Vinglish''  [2012].

Her final film,  ''Mom''   -in which she played a  teacher  seeking to avenge the rape of  stepdaughter   -was released last year.

In its review of the movie,    The Times of India     wrote that Sridevi ''demonstrates why she is the high priestess''  of Indian cinema.

In a tribute on  Instagram , Shekhar Kapur, the director of  ''Mr. India,'' called Sridevi    ''the most exciting actress I ever worked with''.

''There was not a moment on screen that you did not have the audience in your grip,'' he wrote. ''Be it an emotion, a comic moment, a dance.''