SRIDEVI, Bollywood’s leading lady of the 1980s and ’90s who redefined stardom for actresses in India, has died at age 54.

The actress was described as the first female superstar in India’s male-dominated film industry. She used one name, like many leading ladies of her generation, and was known for her comic timing and her dancing skills, a great asset in the song-and-dance melodramas that are a staple of mainstream Indian cinema.

Sridevi died Saturday in Dubai due to cardiac arrest, her brother-in-law Sanjay Kapoor confirmed to Indian Express online. She had been in Dubai to attend a wedding in her extended family.

Born in 1963, Sridevi made her Bollywood debut in 1979 with the Hindi film “Solva Sawan,” but broke through to the list of Bollywood’s most highly sought-after actresses with the film “Himmatwala,” four years later. Her most famous films included “Mr. India,” in which she played a reporter, and “Chandni,” where she played a woman choosing between two men who loved her. She played dual roles of a woman and her daughter in “Lamhe,” or “Moments,” in 1991.

Sridevi took a break from the limelight to raise two children with her husband, producer Boney Kapoor, before returning to star in the 1997 film “Judaai.” The film was a box office hit, but it was Sridevi’s performance in Gauri Shinde’s 2012 hit, “English Vinglish,” that really confirmed her comeback as one of Bollywood’s most treasured and enduring talents.

Sridevi took the starring role of Shashi, an Indian housewife who only speaks Hindi but is thrust onto the streets of New York to help arrange her niece’s wedding. After a series of humiliations, Shashi decides she needs to learn English.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent condolences to Sridevi’s family yesterday, saying he was saddened by her “untimely demise.” (SD-Agencies)