Sidharth Shukla cremated; cause of death not yet clear

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, September 3

Actor Sidharth Shukla was cremated this afternoon at the Oshiwara crematorium in Mumbai.

One of the lasting images of the last rites of Sidharth Shukla at was the late TV star’s ‘special friend’ Shehnaaz Gill breaking down inconsolably as she arrived with her brother Shehzaad to pay her last respects to the man with whom she shared incredible chemistry.

A team of three doctors Last night conducted the post-mortem following the sudden death of actor Sidharth Shukla and the procedure was recorded on video. “No injuries were found”, officials said.

Television and film actor Shukla, who became a household name with TV show ‘Balika Vadhu’, died on Thursday. He was 40.

Shukla, who is survived by his mother and two sisters, was dead when he was taken to  Cooper Hospital in Juhu around 10.20 am, authorities at the hospital said.

Though some reports suggested a heart attack, the cause of his sudden death, which sent shockwaves through the industry and TV fandom and ignited fresh debate on the pulls and pressures of showbiz, is not immediately clear.

“He was brought dead to the hospital. The cause of the death will be known after the post-mortem,” Cooper Hospital Dean Dr Shailesh Mohite told PTI.

The hospital’s Dr Jitten Bhavsar said Shukla – who won ‘Bigg Boss 13’ in 2020 and joins the ranks of actors on the cusp of fame who went too early – was declared dead by the principal medical officer when he was taken to the hospital around 10.20 am.

The body was kept at the state government post-mortem centre on Thursday night and the report will be released on Friday.

“Once the certificate (of death) is given by the doctor, the police will issue the NOC to the relatives and then they can claim the body. However, it’s the investigating officer who deals with the report of post-mortem. It is confidential information between the doctors doing the autopsy and investigating officer,” Dean Mohite said.

The Mumbai-born actor’s family issued a statement through his PR team requesting the media to draw a line and “give his family and loved ones 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,” it said.

Shukla began his career as a model and made his acting debut with the lead role in the TV show ‘Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na’. He later appeared on shows such as ‘Jaane Pehchaane Se… Ye Ajnabbi’, and ‘Love U Zindagi’ but it was ‘Balika Vadhu’ that made him famous.

In a tragic coincidence, his co-star from the show, Pratyusha Banerjee, also died way too young. She was only 24 when she was found hanging in her apartment in Mumbai in 2016. With inputs from PTI