Shanti Srihari, wife of late actor Srihari, wants to carry on the good work of her husband. Srihari had helped many people and had also adopted a few villages in Medchal through his Akshara Foundation, which he had named after their daughter who had died when she was four months old.
Shanti, a popular actress in South India known as Disco Shanti, had also done a few Hindi films. In fact, Srihari fell in love with her after he saw her in Ghayal.
‘Wrong treatment’
A year ago, he had suffered from jaundice and doctors had said that he would have to maintain a strict diet. For one year he ate curd rice for dinner,” says Shanti.
Talking about that fateful day in Mumbai when her husband complained of chest pains, she says, “I called the doctor, who came in half-an-hour. The doctor told me that Srihari’s pulse was going down and that he needed an injection. He said that a hospital (Lilavati) was just 10 minutes away and Srihari went to the hospital along with his assistants.
“They said they would come back in half-an-hour, so I remained at the hotel room. I spoke to Srihari and he said he was fine. After waiting for some time, I called again and the assistant said that Srihari was very weak and needed saline. I went to the hospital and the doctors said there was nothing to worry. But after some time they shifted him to the ICU. They didn’t allow me inside, but I sensed some danger after I saw his face,” recalls an emotional Shanti. “But I didn’t know what was going on as I don’t know Hindi. I was crying and the doctors me out. More than 10 doctors were attending Srihari when suddenly he started shouting. I then forced my way inside and saw him in a pool of blood. I soon knew the treatment was not being done properly and I tried to contact Srihari’s friends but could not get in touch with anyone. At around 4.30 pm the doctors said that he was no more.
“Meanwhile, the doctor who was looking after Srihari in Hyderabad also rushed to Mumbai in the evening. He too tried,” she says. “The doctors initially wanted to do a post-mortem but when the media and many Telugu and Tamil people gathered in front of the hospital, they realised that he was a big star and said that there was no need of a post-mortem,” adds Shanti.
“His treatment was wrong and I wanted to sue the doctors responsible. But that’s not going to make the person come back, so I, let it all go,” she says.
Future in politics
Srihari and Shanti’s sons, Shashank and Megamsh, were very attached to their father. “He loved the younger one more because he looks like me,” says Shanti. Srihari wanted their elder son to be a director and the younger one to be a hero when they grew up. “But I didn’t want them to join films. I wanted them to be a doctor and a lawyer,” says Shanti.
Srihari had also announced that he would contest in the coming Assembly polls from Kukatpally on a Congress ticket. Now, will the wife take her husband’s place? “I want to join politics and contest as an Independent. I don’t want to approach any party and beg for a seat. But if any party comes to me then I will consider; but yes, I want to contest in the coming elections,” says Shanti. “Earlier, they had offered him the Rajahmundry seat (Srihari’s native place), but he rejected because we were in Hyderabad and couldn’t go there and meet people regularly. So he wanted to contest from here,” says Shanti, adding that she had visited Rajahmundry many times with Srihari.
It all started in Rajahmundry
In fact, their love story started in Rajahmundry. Remembering when they met 20 years back, Shanti says, “He used to play small characters and I was at the top of my game at that time. I went to Rajahmundry for the shoot of the film 420 and I acted with him in a scene. We again met for the film Dadar Express, also in Rajahmundry,” she says, adding that Srihari fell for her after he saw her song in the Hindi film Ghayal.
“He used to come and talk to me. At that time there were no mobiles and he used to call me at my house at night. He would say that he was a big fan of mine,” she adds.
“Chiranjeevi’s brother Nagababu was also acting in the film. Srihari approached Nagababu and he told me about Srihari. ‘He is in love with you and wants to marry you’, he said. I took it as a joke,” she says.
“When we were returning to Chennai by train, he came to my compartment and said that he loved me and wanted to marry me. Hundreds of people would propose to me and I thought that he too fell in that category. But when he told me again emotionally, I could see the sincerity in his face. Then I told him
to talk to my mother,” says Shanti.
Srihari then met Shanti’s mother and other family members. “They liked him very much and agreed,” she says.
From then Srihari would meet Shanti wherever she was shooting. “He would enquire about where I was shooting and would be there at the airport or the hotel. This went on for almost a year because my first priority was my family. I was the only breadwinner.” Though her mother wanted Shanti’s marriage to be a grand affair, in reality it took place in a small temple. “In 1993 we had all gone to Chennai and all of a sudden we tied the knot because an astrologer had told Srihari that he should marry before 1993, else it would get delayed for years.”
A happy family
Shanti quit films after marriage as she wanted to become a housewife and help Srihari with his career. “I was his best critic. And once our sons grew up, they were his best critics. They would see all his films at the preview. They used to sit in the front rows and whistle a lot,” she says, adding, “But If they didn’t like a film they would tell him that it was not good.”
Srihari was very fond of his children. “He always treated them as friends and would never get angry with them. He would give them whatever they asked for. My older son loves cars. Last year, before leaving for school, he told his father that he loves Range Rovers. And when he came back home in the evening, the vehicle was there at home,” she adds.
‘Don’t need any help’
“My husband has given me everything and we can settle with that. If I am really in need of money I can get back into films, but I don’t think that I need to act again,” she says.
It’s been more than three months since Srihari’s death and Shanti says that things are slowly coming back to normal. “My sons and I miss him very much. Sometimes I can’t control myself. In fact my sons have removed the lock of my room so that they can see me anytime.”
