This Sunday marks the 41st birth anniversary of actor Sidharth Shukla, who passed away on September 2, 2021, due to a heart attack.
In a career spanning over 15 years, Sidharth ventured into modelling, television and cinema, and left his mark wherever he went.
Born on December 12, 1980, in Mumbai, Sidharth, who held a degree in interior designing, switched to the field of modelling and in 2004, seized the runner-up position in Gladrags Manhunt and Megamodel Contest.
He went on to star in his first music video titled ‘Resham Ka Rumal’, sung by Ila Arun. In 2005, he also bagged the World’s Best Model contest held in Turkey. Later, he appeared in advertisements for some leading brands.
After tasting success in modelling, Sidharth ventured into the television industry and marked his first acting role in ‘Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na’ (2008).
He further starred in more TV shows such as ‘Jaane Pehchaane Se… Ye Ajnabbi’ and ‘Love U Zindagi’, opposite Pavitra Punia. He also appeared in an episode of CID and a few episodes of ‘Aahat’.
It was his role as Shivraj Shekhar in ‘Balika Vadhu’ that earned him widespread popularity, including several awards and nominations.
With rising popularity, Sidharth bagged a role in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions’ movie ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’, which starred Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan in the lead roles. He played the role of Angad Bedi, fiance of Alia’s character. The film earned him an award for Breakthrough Supporting Performance (Male) in the 2015 Stardust Awards.
Sidharth added another feather to his cap by winning the seventh season of the popular reality show ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’.
The highlight of his career came with the hit reality show ‘Bigg Boss 13’ in 2020. As the show went on, his fan following kept rising like never before. His angry young man avatar, friendships and close bonding with rumoured girlfriend Shehnaaz Gill won many hearts and made him the winner.
After featuring in ‘Bigg Boss 13’, his career got a new boom. He went on to feature in three music videos — Darshan Rawal’s ‘Bhula Dunga’ (March 2020), Neha Kakkar and Yasser Desai’s ‘Dil Ko Karaar Aaya’ (July 2020) and Tony Kakkar’s ‘Shona Shona’ (November 2020).
Sidharth marked his digital debut as Agastya Rao in the romantic web series ‘Broken But Beautiful’ Season 3, starring opposite Sonia Rathee. The actor’s last appearance on-screen was with Shehnaaz Gill on this year’s ‘Dance Deewane 3’ and ‘Bigg Boss OTT’.
Apart from his work, Sidharth was also in the spotlight for his personal life, especially, for his equation with Shehnaaz Gill. His last music video ‘Habit’, also featuring Shehnaaz, was released in October 2021.
Shehnaaz also dedicated a music video tribute titled ‘Tu Yaheen Hai’ in memory of Sidharth. The song, sung by Shehnaaz herself, was unveiled in October 2021. The video features footage of Shehnaaz and Sidharth from ‘Bigg Boss 13’.
Even though Sidharth left us too soon, his fans have continued to keep him alive in their hearts and memory. (ANI)
