Manish Malhotra remembers Sridevi in a heartfelt tribute: 'I still expect my phone to ring, and to hear her'

Iconic actress Sridevi, who passed away at the age of 54 on 24 February this year, received a touching and a heartfelt tribute from longtime collaborator and personal friend designer Manish Malhotra in an article published by Vogue India. [caption id=“attachment_4430423” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Sridevi and Manish Malhotra/Image from Twitter.[/caption] Malhotra, who worked with Sridevi on numerous occasions, shared his most memorable moments spent with her. In the article, the ace fashion designer recalls the first time he met Sridevi. After first watching her onscreen in the 1983 movie Himmatwala, Malhotra said he was left mesmerised by the actress’ beauty. He later met her for the first time through photographer Rakesh Shrestha at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studio. Sridevi, according to Malhotra, had just wrapped up a song sequence and was wearing a striking red Amrapali costume. Even though Sridevi barely spoke, she came alive when in front of the camera, Malhotra wrote. Malhotra recalled the time he last spoke to his friend Sridevi, which happened to be on the same day as her death.

“This is the first time I’ve lost someone so close, and it feels surreal. I’d known her for 28 years. We were at a wedding together and then, out of nowhere, her sister Srilatha was handing me a silk sari for her funeral. I spoke to her the night she passed away. We talked about everything under the sun, from Janhvi’s film, how beautiful Khushi looked at the wedding to even what she had eaten earlier that day. Even now, so many days later, I still expect my phone to ring, and to hear her discuss an outfit or a project which we can work on together.”

Malhotra also revealed that Sridevi was never into gossip or bad-mouthing anyone. he wrote that they spent hours talking about clothes, food, movies, and all the good things in life. Sridevi, Malhotra wrote, never wished ill upon anyone, or remarked upon her contemporaries. Now that he is designing for Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi Kapoor, Manish added that it’s funny how life comes full circle. From designing little cholis and ghagras for the girls, he’s now working with Janhvi on her debut movie. Janhvi, who turned 21 earlier this year, is all set for her Bollywood debut with Dhadak, the Hindi remake of Marathi hit film Sairat.