Bollywood’s Iifa Awards honours Sridevi in Bangkok

BANGKOK: Bollywood superstar Sridevi Kapoor (pic) was honoured for her final role at India’s movie awards in Bangkok, winning best actress just months after her shock death.

Sridevi was considered one of the most influential Bollywood actresses of all time. Her death from accidental drowning in a Dubai hotel room bathtub aged 54 in February left the nation in stunned grief.

“I have mixed emotions today. I miss her every minute and second of my life,” her widower Boney Kapoor said as he collected the gong at the International Indian

Film Academy’s (Iifa) awards ceremony.

“I still feel she is around ... I want you all to support Janhvi like you supported her mother,” the Bollywood producer said in an emotional speech, referring to the eldest of Sridevi’s two daughters, who is set to make her Bollywood debut.

With an audience of over 850 million, the Iifa Awards – dubbed Bollywood’s Oscars by some in the industry – is India’s biggest media event.

It is one of the world’s mostwatched entertainment shows, held outside India to demonstrate Bollywood’s global appeal.

Sridevi “was the queen of grace and worthy of every praise,” read a post on the Iifa’s Twitter account.

The ceremony saw India’s biggest stars descend on the Thai capital late on Sunday for a riotous evening filled with glamour and stunning dance routines.

The subject of Sridevi’s last film, Mom, touched a sensitive topic in India – that of rape, with the actress playing a mother seeking to avenge a sex attack on her stepdaughter.

The Iifa awards show will be broadcast worldwide on television on July 29.