Bigg Boss 13 Winner Sidharth Shukla Dies At 40

New Delhi:

Actor and model Sidharth Shukla, best known for his role in the TV show Balika Vadhu, died this morning at the age of 40. Mr Shukla was taken to Mumbai's Cooper Hospital - initial reports suggested the actor had a heart attack; a post-mortem will be conducted by a panel of three doctors. Sidharth Shukla's sudden death has left the TV fraternity "shocked and sad", with tributes pouring in from colleagues such as Sunil Grover, Devoleena Bhattacharjee, Himanshi Khurana, Munmun Dutta and others. Sidharth Shukla, who won season 13 of Bigg Boss in 2019,  is survived by his mother and two sisters.

Sidharth Shukla was active on Twitter until earlier this week. His last tweet, posted on August 30, congratulated athletes Sunil Antil and Avani Lekhara on their golds at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Indians making us proud over and over again... a World Record in addition to the #Gold in #Paralympics ... congratulations #SumitAntil and #AvaniLekhara

— Sidharth Shukla (@sidharth_shukla) August 30, 2021

Sidharth Shukla started out in showbiz as a model and made his acting debut with the 2008 TV show Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na. Mr Shukla also starred in several other shows such as Jaane Pehchaane Se... Ye Ajnabbi, Love You Zindagi, CID and Dil Se Dil Tak. His lead role on the show Balika Vadhu, in which he featured with late actress Pratyusha Banerjee, made him a star.

In addition to Bigg Boss 13, Sidharth Shukla also won Khatron Ke Khiladi 7 and competed on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6. Mr Shukla was also part of Bigg Boss 14 as a "senior" for the first few weeks. He hosted the shows Savdhaan India and India's Got Talent.

Sidharth Shukla featured in movies such as Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan's Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, in which he played a supporting role, and Business In Kazakhstan. Mr Shukla's last lead role was in the web-series Broken But Beautiful 3.