The sudden deaths of three young actors in a row have shocked people who knew them. There has been an abrupt and unexpected change where none of the actors appeared to have a major illness.
Splitsvilla 9 fame Aditya Singh Rajput, 32, died at his Andheri apartment on Monday (May 23) after slipping and falling in the bathroom. Just a day prior to his death, he had shared a picture of the bar at his house with the caption, ‘Sunday Funday with the besties’. He had friends over to give him company. While Aditya looked hale and hearty, his housekeeper revealed that he had not been keeping well for some time. He was rushed to the hospital by his guard and servant where he was declared brought dead.
Initial reports suggested that he died of drug overuse. But his friends and family rubbished the claims. His mother appealed to people not to malign her son and family’s image. Though the postmortem was conducted, the cause of death is not yet known. Aditya was cremated on Tuesday at Oshiwara Crematorium. His friends Rohit K Verma, Harsh Rajput, and Rajiv Adatia were present at the funeral.
Vaibhavi Upadhyaya, 32, who rose to fame by playing the role of Jasmine in Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, died in a road accident on Sunday (May 22). The actress was on a road trip with her fiance Jay Gandhi when their car was hit by a truck at a steep turn in Himachal Pradesh. The vehicle slipped into the valley and toppled. “Vaibhavi tried to get out of the vehicle through the window and sustained a head injury which proved fatal. She was rushed to Banjar Civil Hospital where the doctors declared her dead,” SP Kullu Sakshi Verma told PTI. Her fiance, who was driving the car, sustained minor injuries.
Vaibhavi’s brother Ankit handed over the body and her funeral was held in Borivali, Mumbai on Wednesday (May 24). Friends and family of Vaibhavi were seen in a devastated state at the funeral. JD Majethia, the producer of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, called it an ‘unfortunate incident’ and revealed that Vaibhavi wasn’t wearing a seatbelt which could have saved her life. Actors Sumeet Raghavan, Deven Bhojani, and producer Aatish Kapadia also attended the last rites of the actress.
Anupamaa fame Nitesh Pandey died of a cardiac arrest at just 51. The actor suffered a massive cardiac arrest at 2 am on Wednesday (May 24) in Igatpuri near Nashik where he had gone for a shoot. After the postmortem, Nitesh’s mortal remains were sent to his Mumbai residence for funeral and last rites.
Nitesh’s co-stars from the daily soap were shattered to learn the news. Rupali Ganguly broke down in tears at the funeral. Earlier in the day, she had told ETimes TV, “He was the only industry friend who stayed constantly in touch with me during my sabbatical. He had even come to meet me after Rudransh was born. I can’t believe this. His son Aarav is just a few months older than Rudransh. He had messaged me just last week about a painting he had made and we had made plans to make our sons meet.”
At the actor’s funeral, his son Aarav and his mother were seen in an inconsolable state. While Aarav kept calling out his ‘baba’ and touching his forehead, his wife couldn’t believe her husband was no more. Besides Rupali, Nakuul Mehta, the cast of Ek Rishta Sajhedaari, Yesha Rughani, Siddharth Nagar, Vijayendra Kumeria and Rajan Shahi among others were present at the funeral.