Bollywood Celebrities Mourn the Death of ‘Rajnigandha’ Actress Vidya Sinha Who Passed Away at 71: As India celebrated Independence Day yesterday, Bollywood lost a gem who had been suffering from lung and heart disorders. Actress Vidya Sinha, who was known for her roles in movies like Pati, Patni Aur Woh, Chhoti Si Baat and Rajnigandha breathed her last yesterday on August 15, 2019 at the age of 71. After complaining of breathlessness, she was hospitalised and was soon put on ventilator but she passed away after respiratory failure.
Vidya Sinha began her career with modelling. She was firstly spotted by Basu Chatterjee. She was also crowned as Miss Bombay. She fell in love and married her neighbour Venkateshwaran Iyer in 1968 much before she made her movie debut.
Basu Chatterjee’s Rajnigandha, which was released in 1974, gave her the name and fame she rightfully deserved. It is said that Iyer encouraged her to take up the role, where she played the role of a young student, who is torn between her current boyfriend (Amol Palekar also in his debut) and a past romance (Dinesh Thakur), both starkly different in outlook and personalities.
As the sad news broke out, many bollywood celebrities like Sanjay Gupta, Madhur Bhandarkar and Sonu Sood among others remembered the veteran actress and mourned her death.
In his tweet, Jaaved Jaaferi remembered Vidya Sinha as “an actress who was talented, beautiful and dignified, and who we all loved in the 70’s”, adding that she “passes on to her next journey”
Madhur Bhandarkar recalled some of her best roles in his tweet. He wrote, “Sad to hear (of the) demise of actress Vidya Sinha, she will be always remembered for her superlative performances in films like Rajnigandha, Chhoti Si Baat and Pati Patni Aur Woh. My condolences to her family & friends.”
Sonu Sood remembered Vidya Sinha with a tinge of nostalgia. He wrote, “We have grown up watching you lightning the screen with your performances. Your graciousness and simplicity was unmatchable.”
Bengali superstar Prosenjit tweeted his favourite picks among Vidya Sinha’s films. He tweeted, “You will be always remembered specially for Rajnigandha, Chhoti Si Baat, Mukti.”
Actress Rituparna Sengupta wrote “deeply saddened by the demise of our beloved actress Vidya Sinha. Sweetest voice and unusual beauty made her apart from others…
She exuded unusual grace… I am privileged to work with her as a daughter in Tere Ane Se (which is yet to be released) My condolences for the bereaved family.”
Sinha left the spotlight, as the space for middle class stories shrunk in the ’80s. In her later years, she was seen in a small role in Salman Khan’s Bodyguard. She also featured in several TV shows including Kkavyanjali, Qubool Hai, Chandra Nandini and Kullfi Kumarr Bajewala.
