"I considered Sidharth Shukla to be my son," said Shankar Banerjee, late actress Pratyusha Banerjee's father, in an interview with Aaj Tak. Sidharth Shukla and Pratyusha Banerjee were co-stars of Balika Vadhu, a show which propelled both the actors to stardom. Pratyusha Banerjee died in 2016, she was just 24. Actor Sidharth Shukla died on September 2 at the age of 40. Speaking to Aaj Tak, Pratyusha Banerjee's father remembered Sidharth Shukla and said he remained in touch with them after Pratyusha's death: "After Pratyusha's death, many people talked about the relationship between Sidharth and my daughter, because of which Sidharth had stopped coming home. He often asked me in messages on WhatsApp."
In the interview, Mr Banerjee said during the lockdown, Sidharth checked up on them regularly and even reached out for financial help: "During this lockdown, he used to constantly message me. I got his last message a couple of months ago. He used to ask in the message 'Uncle, aunty do you need help?', 'Are you guys fine?', 'Can I help in any way?' He had forcibly sent Rs 20,000."
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. However, his lead role on the show Balika Vadhu made him a star while Bigg Boss 13 made him a household name - Sidharth Shukla was the winner of the reality show.
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.
