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Actor Rajit Kapoor: Surekha Sikri did not get great parts for not being beautiful. She was upset

WION Web Team
New DelhiUpdated: Jul 17, 2021, 11:35 AM IST
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Photograph:(Twitter)

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Bollywood actor Surekha Sikri, who died on Friday morning following a cardiac arrest, was 75.

Bollywood actor and theatre personality Rajit Kapoor revealed in a recent interview that Surekha Sikri, who died on Friday morning following a cardiac arrest, was upset for not getting great parts.

“Unfortunately, not many people knew what a firehouse she was, that her theatre colleagues knew. I also know that good looks came in the way so often with her. She was never given a great part since she wasn’t beautiful in the conventional sense and that used to upset her a lot in the middle. But soon she stopped caring about it. A performer like her needs to be given a salute,” Kapoor was quoted as saying. 


She had been unwell for several months, and had suffered a brain stroke in 2020. It was also reported at the time that she was also going through a tough time financially, which she later denied.


“I think she was one of the most fantastic actors we have had in the country and I feel bad since I don’t think she ever really got her due as a performer. She only came into the limelight pretty late with Balika Vadhu and became a household name. But she could do any role and the smallest part given to her would shine since she was a performer. From the small role in Saradari Begum to playing my nani (grandmother) in Mammo, I just saw the ease and effortlessness with which she performed and still made it starry,” said Kapoor about her playing his grandmother in ‘Mammo’ (1994). 


Surekha Sikri was a film, television and theatre personality who made her debut in 1978, with the film 'Kissa Kursi Ka'. She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress thrice for her roles in Tamas (1988), Mammo (1995) and Badhaai Ho (2018).


The late actress became a household name for her performance in the primtetime soap opera 'Balika Vadhu'. Her performance in the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer 'Badhaai Ho' earned her rave reviews and was also touted to be her big Bollywood comeback.