The world mourns the loss of the great mystic, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, considered by many as a saint. The Indian Film Industry has expressed grief at the death of this spiritual leader, who commanded over 50 million devotees worldwide, on Sunday, who died after a prolonged illness in Andhra Pradesh's Puttaparthi town at the age of 85.
Quite a few Bollywood stars, who were his followers, paid tribute to him in person as well as on various social network sites. Some of these include the living legend Amitabh Bachchan who recalled his experience with the Guru and was "Very sad to hear of the passing of Satya Sai Baba" Baba had sent him 'vibhuti' during his near-fatal accident on the sets of his film, 'Coolie' and on recovering, Amitabh had gone and visited him.
Abhishek Bachchan recalled seeing his first photo in his grandmother's mandir. Even his wife, superstar Aishwarya, is a great believer in him. They sent their prayers.
Riteish Deshmukh tweeted: "RIP SATYA SAI BABA- Man who spread love and helped the needy. Had the privilege of meeting him n spending some time with him a few times."
Neha Dhupia also prayed for him and condoled all his followers, disciples & loved ones.
Ram Gopal Varma too condoled with all the devotees saying, "my heart bleeds for his followers..my sinciere condolences".
Actor R Madhavan and Rana Daggubati also tweeted "RIP Sathya Sai Baba" and sent their condolences to all the followers.
In addition to these, there are numerous other Bollywood artists who patronized the saint including Manoj Kumar, Anupham Kher, Madhur Bhandarkar and Mohammed Rafi who were among his prominent worshippers.
The South Indian Film Industry too was shaken by the news of his demise, as various actors and actress from yesteryear's and the current times, have been sincere devotees of Baba. Actresses including Anjali Devi, Jamuna, Singer Suseela, Krishna Kumari were among the most devoted followers of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Superstars including Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Murali Mohan and Mohan Babu too were known for being regular visitors to receive the blessings of the spiritual guru.
Tamil superstar Rajinikanth and Malayalam megastar Mohan Lal, and a host of stars from the Kanada Film Industry too prayed for Baba's soul to rest in peace. In fact, actor Mohan Babu issued a press release stating that Sathya Sai Baba was a God amongst humans and also said that he has not expired, but just left this earth physically.
Prominent non-Bollywood personalities who lined up for a last glimpse of the mystic, inlcude sports legends Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. A state funeral was scheduled for Tuesday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, President of Indian National Congress, arrived in Puttaparthi on Tuesday evening to pay their last respects.
Fridaymoviez condoles the loss of Sri Sathya Sai Baba.