Janhvi Kapoor, Neena Gupta, Manoj Bajpayee and others pay tribute to Surekha Sikri

New Delhi: Veteran actress and three-time National Award-winning performer Surekha Sikri passed away on Friday (July 16) morning at 7.30 am after suffering from a cardiac arrest. Surekha was 75 years old and was surrounded by her family during her last moments.

The actress played the matriarch, Kalyani Devi, in the popular TV show Balika Vadhu, which made her a household name. Surekha was awarded the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress thrice, for her spectacular performances in films Tamas (1988), Mammo (1995) and Badhaai Ho (2018).

Mourning her demise, various celebrities remembered the incredible talent and amazing persona of the theatre, TV and film actress.

Janhvi Kapoor, who worked with Surekha in Netflix’s Ghost Stories, put out an Insta story featuring the late actress from her young days and captioned it, “Surekha mam, a true legend. RIP,” with a heart emoji.

Neena Gupta, who also studied from National School of Drama, just like Surekha, remembered looking at the late actress doing theatre and aspiring to be just like her. The two worked together in the 2018 comedy film ‘Badhaai ho’. Neena revealed that Surekha performed her scenes with full gusto and with the same enthusiasm would give her cues.

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A post shared by Neena Gupta (@neena_gupta)

Actor Manoj Bajpayee took to Twitter to share his condolences. “"Very Sad news !!! One of the greatest talent Surekha Sikari ji passed away leaving behind so many great performances in theatre and cinema!! She was a treat to watch on stage. can’t forget some of those memories of her act in theatre.great craft and a graceful person!! RIP,” wrote the actor.

Check out some of the tweets by celebs remembering Surekha Sikri:

Very Sad news !!! One of the greatest talent Surekha Sikari ji passed away leaving behind so many great performances in theatre and cinema!! She was a treat to watch on stage.can’t forget some of those memories of her act in theatre.great craft and a graceful person!! RIP — manoj bajpayee (@BajpayeeManoj) July 16, 2021

RIP #surekha ji. I’ll always remember you so very fondly!! Big loss !! Your talent was spectacular! pic.twitter.com/tKOQU4Fr7E — Divya Dutta (@divyadutta25) July 16, 2021

She was a force of nature if ever there was one. Hence I won’t say rest in peace but RAGE in peace Surekhaji. As you did,during your time on earth!  https://t.co/fg79qdGb7U — Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) July 16, 2021

मुझसे से पहली सी मोहब्बत मेरे महबूब ना माँग …

Faiz by #surekhasikri ji

Rest in Peace pic.twitter.com/3oSqtQK3gu — Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) July 16, 2021

Surekha Sikri was dealing with health issues for some time. The actress suffered two brain strokes in 2020 and 2018 respectively.