Mumbai, Sep 2: The untimely death of popular TV actor and reality show star Siddharth Shukla on Thursday (September 2) due to cardiac arrest in Mumbai left the nation shocked. He was 40.
Sidharth Shukla, best known for his role in the long-running Hindi TV show 'Balika Vadhu' was announced dead upon arrival at the Cooper Hospital in Mumbai.
Shukla suffered a massive heart attack in the morning it is learnt. He is survived by his mother and two sisters.
"He was brought dead to the hospital some time ago," the senior Cooper Hospital official told PTI.
Shukla began his career in showbiz as a model and made his acting debut with a lead role in the television show "Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na".
He later appeared on shows such as "Jaane Pehchaane Se... Ye Ajnabbi", "Love U Zindagi" but became a household name with "Balika Vadhu".
In 2014, Shukla made his Bollywood debut with the Karan Johar-produced "Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania" where he had a supporting role in Varun Dhawan-Alia Bhatt starrer.
The Mumbai boy was working at an interior designing firm and doing modelling. He won Gladrags Manhunt and Mega model Contest in 2004 and in the same year he appeared in 'Resham Ka Rumal' video.
He gained popularity amongst the masses after emerging victorious in stunt reality show 'Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 7' and later won the 'Bigg Boss Hindi' season 13. His popularity was such that he hosted a few weekend episodes of 'Bigg Boss' season 14 in the absence of host Salman Khan.
The demise of Shukla even left the Indian cricketers shocked as it was a grim reminder of the fact that life could be fragile.
Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and senior India spinner Harbhajan Singh also offered their condolence to the death of the actor.
Another reminder of how fragile life is.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 2, 2021
Heartfelt condolences to #SiddharthShukla 's family and friends.
Om Shanti pic.twitter.com/zTinZmyaJ5
Shocking .. Gone too soon..can’t believe #RIPsidharthshukla #Sidharthshukla condolencesto family and friends.. OM Shanti 🙏🙏 https://t.co/5pBwIDF2YV
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) September 2, 2021
An old tweet of Shukla from last year is doing the rounds on social media in which he hailed former India captain and legendary cricketer, MS Dhoni, when the latter announced his retirement from international cricket.
There will be a lot of players & captains bt there can never b another #Dhoni..D man who always lead frm d front ..many play fr records you played to win and made records....India will miss you terribly.Thank you #MSDhoni & #Raina for your immense contribution to Team India !
— Sidharth Shukla (@sidharth_shukla) August 15, 2020
Shukla wrote, "There will be a lot of players & captains bt there can never b another #Dhoni..D man who always lead frm d front ..many play fr records you played to win and made records....India will miss you terribly.Thank you #MSDhoni & #Raina for your immense contribution to Team India !"
Dhoni retired from international cricket on August 15 2020.