Sidharth Shukla died at 40; other actors who died young

TV actor Sidharth Shukla‘s sudden demise on Thursday morning at Mumbai’s Cooper Hospital left fans and colleagues from the industry shocked. The cause of his death is not yet known but initial media reports said he died of a heart attack.

Also Read: Late Sidharth Shukla’s old tweet on ‘death’ goes viral after his sudden demise

Ever since the news broke several celebrities including Madhuri Dixit, Varun Dhawan, Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Asim Riaz among many others expressed condolences to the family with a common concern that the actor died at a very young age, Shukla was just 40.

Also Read: Sidharth Shukla’s upcoming movies and projects

Here’s a look at television and Bollywood actors who died at a young age.

Pratyusha Banerjee

Actor Pratyusha Banerjee, who was also Sidharth Shukla‘s ‘Balika Vadhu’ co-star died at the age of 24 under suspicious circumstances. She was found dead in her Mumbai apartment in 2016. Banerjee’s parents registered an FIR against her live-in partner Rahul Raj alleging that he had tortured her and prompted her to commit suicide. 

Also Read: TV actor Sidharth Shukla’s best dialogues from ‘Bigg Boss 13’

Pratyusha Banerjee began her acting career with Balika Vadhu and also appeared in the seventh season of the reality TV show Bigg Boss.

Jiah Khan

Bollywood actor Jiah Khan, who began her career with Nishabdh in which she was cast against veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan also died by suicide. While her death remains a matter of controversy even after years have passed fans believe that Khan allegedly took her own life because of her troubled romantic relationship with then-boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi.

Also Read: Sidharth Shukla’s ‘Humpy Sharma Ki Dulhania’ co-stars Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan remember actor

Jiah Khan was just 25 when she died.

Divya Bharti

Divya Bharti, who made her Bollywood debut with ‘Vishwatma’ in 1992, fell to her death from the balcony window of her fifth-floor apartment. At the time of her death in 1993, Bharti was just 19 years old.

Fact Check: Video circulated as Sidharth Shukla’s last moment is fake

What led Bharti to take an extreme step like that still remains a mystery.

Sushant Singh Rajput

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14, 2020. He allegedly died by suicide owing to mental health conditions. The actor’s death led to a widespread campaign ‘justiceforSSR’ and gave rise to various speculation.

Sushant’s death also initiated a controversial debate of nepotism and favouritism in Bollywood which fans argued prompted him to take the step. He was 34.

Also Read: TV actor Sidharth Shukla’s best dialogues from ‘Bigg Boss 13’

Irrfan Khan

One of the most prolific actors of Bollywood, Irrfan Khan died on April 30, 2020, due to a colon infection and prolonged illness at Kokilaben hospital Mumbai. He was just 53 at the time.

Khan was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour in 2018, following which he sought treatment in the UK for a year and returned to India in February 2019.

Apart from Bollywood, Khan featured in many British as well as American movies as well and was a prominent name in Hollywood as well.

Smita Patel

Counted among the finest actors Bollywood has ever seen and one of the flag bearers of the Parallel Cinema movement, Smita Patil died at the age of 31 due to childbirth complications while giving birth to son Prateik Babbar with actor husband Raj Babbar.

Madhubala

Known for her exquisite beauty, Madhubala was one of the most iconic actors of Bollywood.  As the first Indian woman in Hollywood, not only was the actress celebrated but she was also compared to the legendary Marilyn Monroe.

The actor died at the age of 36 owing to some long-standing medical complications related to the heart and lungs.