How does one write about the death of a legend, of a giant in the industry that seemed near immortal because you grew up consuming entertainment media that has featured her so prominently over the years? I guess I'm about to find out. 

Sridevi has always been a demigoddess in a country obsessed with cinema, at least for the generation that grew up in the 80s and then the 90s. Whenever conversations turned to acting prowess and sheer beauty, Sridevi would be spoken about in hushed, reverent tones, an aura she continued to maintain throughout her life. 

Born on August 13, 1963, in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu to a Tamil father and a Telugu mother, Sridevi took to the screen at the age of 4, playing the role of Lord Muruga. She would eventually go on to win Kerala State Film Award For Best Child Artist for the 1971 film Poompetta. It was as if she was born for the industry. 

Sridevi quickly added multiple movies to her portfolio, excelling in every role she played. After utterly dominating the Southern Film Industry with her ethereal looks and fantastic acting prowess, including movies with former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and giving the Telugu folk a timeless classic like Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari, she eventually made her Bollywood debut with Solva Sawan in 1979. It wouldn't be until 4 years later starring opposite Jeetendra in Himmatwala that she would find success in the industry. 

And success she did. Himmatwala smashed records left and right and became one of the most successful films from Bollywood, it also resulted in Jeetendra and Sridevi working together for 15 more films together, 13 of which were superhits, the remaining 3 didn't do so well. 

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if someone were to take the initiative to write about Sridevi's life and that book ended up being a thick slab of paper. Her film credits alone fill up an entire page, the stories she has to tell about the industry would be quite something else. 

I cannot help but feel that I am severely underqualified to even begin to write anything about Sridevi. She was the true personification of an 'Atiloka Sundari', a beauty from beyond our world because it was simply improbable to imagine that such a person could exist on this planet. As Ram Gopal Varma wrote in his slightly weird facebook note, it was hard to imagine that such a beauty could exist among humans, least of all have human problems. 

My particular generation remembers her for her fantastic roles in Mr. India and the aforementioned Atiloka Sundari, movies that would only cement her status as the first proper female superstar in the industry. As a friend put it, she was the first actress in the industry that could easily put her male co-stars in supporting actress roles. 

Death is never an easy concept to come to terms with, even more so when you realise that some people you thought will always be around, suddenly pass away. 

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this tragic death is the sombre realisation of mortality. No matter how inspiring, how decent or how beautiful one is, at the end of the day, we're only human. Which kind of explains why the country is in a daze. 

Death is such a human problem, to think even Sridevi can be affected by it, that is simply madness.