Shashikala Saigal

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Veteran actress Shashikala Om Prakash Saigal, who was an Indian film and television actress. Shashikala played supporting roles in over 100 films that includes Bimla, Sujata, Aarti, Anupama, Waqt, Gumrah and Khubsoorat and so on. The 88-years-old actor died on April 4, 2021.

Amit Mistry

(Image Source- IMDb, DNA India)

Amit Mistry was an Indian drama, film and television actor. He was well-known for his appearance in Tenali rama, A Gentleman and Saat Phero Ki Hera Pherie. The actor died at the age of 47 due to heart attack on April 23.

Bikramjeet Kanwarpal

(Image Source- The Indian Express)

Bikramjeet Kanwarpal was an Indian film and television actor. A retired army officer, Kanwarpal had played supporting roles in several films and television serials. He was also shared screen space with actor Anil Kapoor in 24 (Tv series). The actor passed away at the age of 52 due to COVID-19 complications on May 2.

Raj Kaushal

(Image Source- India TV)

Adperson and director Raj Kaushal, who was married to actress and TV presenter Mandira Bedi. The director died on 30 June 2021 due to a heart attack.

Dilip Kumar

(Image Source- India TV News)

Mohammed Yusuf Khan, better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Mr. Kumar holds the record for most wins for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and was also the inaugural recipient of the award, he has won 3 Filmfare awards consecutively. The veteran actor passed away at the age of 98  due to age-related illnesses on July 7.

Shravan Rathod

Shravan Kumar Rathod was a popular music composer and was a member of the famous duo of music directors, Nadeem – Shravan. Mr. Shravan passed away on April 23, at the age of 66. Shravan was COVID-19 positive and was reported to be in a critical condition.

Rajiv Kapoor

(Image Source- Times of India)

Rajiv Raj Kapoor was an Indian film actor, film producer and film director. The actor was popular for his lead role in Ram Teri Ganga Maili. He was the youngest son of Raj Kapoor. The veteran actor passed away on February 9 due to a cardiac arrest.

Rinku Singh Nikumbh

(Image Source- EastMojo)

Rinku Singh Nikumbh, who was an Indian actor. She was known for her appearance in Ayushmann Khurrana’s ‘Dream Girl’, passed away due to COVID-19 complications at the age of 35.

Sidharth Shukla

(Image Source- Bollywood Hungama)

Sidharth Shukla was an Indian actor, host and model, who appeared in Hindi television and films. He was well-known for his roles in Balika Vadhu, Broken But Beautiful 3 and Dil Se Dil Tak. He was also the winner of reality shows like Bigg Boss 13 and Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 7. Another side, he had hosted Savdhaan India and India’s Got Talent. Moreover, Mr. Shukla won the World’s Best Model title in December 2005 beating 40 other participants from across Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Sidharth Shukla passed away due to massive heart attack on September 2.

Surekha Sikri

(Image Source0- Bollywood Life)

Surekha Sikri was an Indian theatre, film and television actress. The veteran actress received several awards, including three National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. Surekha Sikri died on July 16, at the age of 75 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Anupam Shyam

(Image Source- Pinkvilla)

Anupam Shyam Ojha was an Indian film and television actor, who mostly played villainous roles. The veteran actor passed away on August 8 at the age of 63 of multiple organ failure.

Ghanshyam Nayak

(Image Source- Pinkvilla)

Ghanashyam Nayak was an Indian drama, film and television actor. He was well-known for his last role as Nattu Kaka in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Ghanshyam Nayak passed away on October 3 following a battle with cancer.

Chandrakant Pandya

(Image Source- Indian Film History, Twitter)

Actor Chandrakant Pandya was an Indian actor, who played Nishad Raj on Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan. The actor passed away on October 5.

Though there have been multiple changes in leads of this show, Pratyusha Banerjee as ‘Anandi’ and Sidharth Shukla as ‘Shiv’ will forever be remembered in our hearts. Other than them, people’s favourite Surekha Sikri as ‘Dadi-Sa’ ruled the television for a long nine years. And in an uncertain turn of events, we lost these gems who were our household name for such a long time.

Pratyusha Banerjee was found hanging in her Mumbai apartment on 1 April 2016 and according to the post-mortem report, the cause of death was asphyxia. However, her parents allege she was murdered by her boyfriend and passed off as suicide. Surekha Sikri, wherein, died on 16 July this year at the age of 76 because of the same reason as Sidharth Shukla, allegedly by cardiac arrest. Reportedly, she was also suffering from the complications of two previous brain strokes.

This year, Colors has launched the reboot of Balika Vadhu and if we sit down to watch any of its episodes, our eyes will surely get wet from the nostalgia. Today after Sidharth’s demise, his PR team released a statement saying “We have a request. We really want all of you to respect and stand with us during these tough times. As Sidharth’s PR team, we humbly request the media to draw a line and give his family and loved one’s space and let them grieve”. “We are all in pain! We are as shocked as you are! And all of us knew Sidharth was a private person, so please respect his privacy, his family’s privacy. And please pray for His Soul To Rest in Peace,” the team added.

This veteran actor will have her last film released, named ‘Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai’. The film also stars Jassie Gill, Surbhi Jyoti, and Vijay Raaz among others, and will be released on Zee5.

The film is based on the real-life incident when ‘Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai’ was written on a currency note, and it went viral. According to the makers, “Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai, set in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, is about a young man Sintoo who falls in love with Sonam Gupta, the town’s heartbeat and a girl way out of his league. The story unfolds when Sonam reciprocates his feelings, leaving Sintoo all the more confused. What follows is a comedy of errors where a line written on a note goes viral and starts a chain of events.”

Surekha, who was last seen in Netflix’s Ghost stories, had her presence on television too, of a great run. Be it Banegi Apni Baat (1993-1997), Just Mohabbat (1996-2000), Saat Phere (2006-2009), Ek tha Raja, Ek thi Rani (2015-2017), or her ever iconic, Balika Vadhu (2008-2016).

In cinemas too, she has a record of appearing in over 30 multilingual films, reflecting the various shades of uncommon characters over the years. It would be exciting and emotional at the same time to see her on-screen with this one.

The actress might not be present among us physically, but she will always make her presence in everyone’s heart by her work. The actress won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress thrice, for her roles in Tamas in the year 1988, Mammo in 1995 and Badhaai Ho in 2018.

Remembering Surekha Sikri “Tamas” filmmaker Govind Nihalani says,” Surekha [Sikri] was a student of the National School of Drama. I know her when she was doing theatre in Delhi. I liked her stage performances immensely. When I was working on [my television-film] Tamas [based on the Hindi novel of the same name by Bhisham Sahni in 1988], she had just come to Mumbai. Surekha Sikri was my first choice to play the character of Rajo and I am glad she accepted it. It rightly garnered her the National Award for Best Supporting Actress.”

Talking about his movie Tamas, he further added, “Rajo [her character in Tamas] was a Muslim woman hailing from a simple background, stuck between her hot-headed son and God-fearing and honest husband. Once explained, Surekha would grasp the graph of the character [with ease]. She was a natural actor, who put in a lot of hard work into her performances, but you would never know that watching her act so effortlessly on screen. What touched me the most about her portrayal is the simplicity with which she played the role. There are some things about every actor that a director identifies with, which help create a good working relationship. One of the things about Surekha was that she was a warm-hearted human being and that translated on-screen. It became part of her personality and all the characters she ever played on stage and in cinema; there was little artifice about that. Surekha didn’t bring any kind of artificial technique to creating a character. You just felt the empathy in her approach.”

The duo also collaborated in the film “Deham” in the year 2001.The film revolves around futuristic story depicting the organ sale from relatively poorer countries to the rich. The film also won the prestigious Netpac (Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema) award for the Best Asian Film at the 25th Goteborg Film Festival, 2002, in Sweden.