Sidharth Shukla death: Indian TV star dies aged 40 from heart attack

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Popular Indian television actor Sidharth Shukla died on Thursday of a heart attack, according to reports. He was 40.

Shukla, who was part of the long-running TV show Balika Vadhu and the winner of the Bigg Boss 13 reality show, suffered a massive heart attack in the morning, local media reported.

He is survived by his mother and two sisters.

Shukla began his career in the entertainment industry as a model before making his acting debut with the TV show Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na in 2008. But his performance in Balika Vadhu on Colors TV put his career on the fast track. The show was also dubbed in many Indian languages, including Tamil and Telugu.

Over the course of his television career, Shukla also appeared in several reality shows, including Khatron Ke Khiladi, India’s Got Talent and Bigg Boss — the Indian version of Big Brother.

Shukla also starred in Karan Johar-produced 2014 Bollywood film Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya, starring actors Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan.

He was last seen in the third season of Indian drama web series, Ekta Kapoor’s Broken But Beautiful that premiered on local streaming platform MX Player.

Shukla had recently announced his upcoming film Silsila SidNaaz Ka with model and actress Shehnaaz Gill. Media reports suggested that Gill left an ongoing shoot when she heard of Shukla’s passing.

The Balika Vadhu actor had a large social media following, including on Twitter and Instagram.

His last posts on Twitter was a congratulatory message for Indian Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra. Following news of his death, fans from around the country took to the website to express their grief and shock.