Surekha Sikri dies: Manoj Bajpayee, Neena Gupta lead Bollywood in paying tribute to the National Award winning actress

Veteran actress Surekha Sikri is no more. She died after suffering a cardiac arrest on Friday morning at the age of 75. Best known for her roles in the daily soap Balika Vadhu and films like Badhaai Ho and Zubeidaa, she was three time National Award winner and was also won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989.

Leaving behind a rich legacy of work in films and theater, her death is being mourned by her fans as well as the entertainment industry.

Neena Gupta who worked with her in Badhaai Ho, the comedy that won Surekha Sikri her final Nation Award, was deeply saddened by the death of the actress and posted a video sharing her grief. Neena recalls how as a student in the Nation School of Drama she would sneakily try to get glimpses of Sikri performing plays as a part of Repertory Company. Surekha Sikri had graduated from NSD, New Delhi in 1971.

Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee called the Surekha Sikri one of the greatest talents who was a treat to watch in a tweet. Actors Randeep Hooda, Dia Mirza, Pooja Bhatt, Nimrat Kaur, Kritika Karma paid their tributes on hearing of her sad demise.

Surekha Sikri’s agent Vivek Sidhwani confirmed the news of her death and told PTI, "Three-time national award winning actress, Surekha Sikri has passed away following a cardiac arrest earlier this morning at the age of 75. She had been suffering from complications arising from a second brain stroke. She was surrounded by family and her caregivers. The family asks for privacy at this time. Om Sai Ram.”

The actress was battling health problems for the past few years. She suffered a brain stroke in 2020 while she had a paralytic attack in 2018.