Bollywood actor Janhvi Kapoor has made a powerful statement about the loss of privacy and dignity in the public discourse surrounding celebrity deaths. Speaking at the We The Women Asia event in Mumbai, Kapoor described the media frenzy following her mother Sridevi's passing as a "complete derailment of human morality."
The Pain of a Private Grief Made Public
Janhvi Kapoor revealed that she is often hesitant to speak about the death of her legendary mother, actress Sridevi, fearing her words might be misconstrued. "I'm always conscious about sounding like I am saying things to get y'all to feel bad for me," she confessed. She expressed a deep aversion to the idea of anyone thinking she would use such a personal tragedy for headlines.
She described the grief as an intensely personal experience that is difficult to articulate. "The feeling and the phase that I went through during that time is something I'll never be able to verbalise," Kapoor said, adding that she believes it was such an individual journey that others might not fully relate to it, even if she shared every detail.
Sridevi died on 24 February 2018 in Dubai due to accidental drowning. Her daughter Janhvi made her Bollywood debut later that same year.
Voyeuristic Culture and the Memeification of Loss
Kapoor did not hold back in her criticism of modern media and social media culture. She stated that the voyeuristic nature prevalent today has significantly eroded ethical boundaries. "I am seeing it more and more every day, and I think it was horrible when I lost my mom," she remarked.
To illustrate her point, she brought up the recent passing of veteran actor Dharmendra. "We saw what happened with Dharam ji," she said, pointing out how his death was also subjected to insensitive public consumption. Dharmendra passed away on 24 November 2025 in Mumbai after a prolonged period of hospitalization.
"I don't know if anyone can imagine what it's like to lose someone that close to you and see it become a meme," Kapoor expressed with palpable anguish. "I don't even know how to compute it, so I don't know how to explain it. But it's just gotten worse." She noted that this pattern has occurred repeatedly and fears it will only intensify.
A Contrast in Final Farewells
The actor highlighted a stark difference in how the two families handled the final rites. While Sridevi's funeral was a massive public event, Dharmendra's family chose a path of quiet dignity. They completed his last rites in a private, silent ceremony, foregoing the public "antim darshan" that fans often expect, a decision that Kapoor's comments implicitly support as a refuge from the public gaze.
Janhvi Kapoor's heartfelt comments have sparked a crucial conversation about empathy, privacy, and the ethical responsibilities of media in the digital age, where real human tragedy can be reduced to fleeting online content.
