Parag Tyagi, carries the bier out from their Oshiwara residence. Pic/PTI
Ahmed Ali & Avijit Ghosh | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; June 29, 2025)
Mumbai/New Delhi: Shefali Jariwala, whose sizzling gyration and rebellious abandon in the music video of the remixed track ‘Kaanta Laga’ (original song from ‘Samadhi’, 1972) became a dance floor favourite, annoyed social conservatives and helped sell over a million cassettes, CDs and albums, passed away following a cardiac arrest on Friday night. She was 42.
Jariwala was rushed to a private hospital close to her Andheri West residence by husband-actor Parag Tyagi, but was declared dead on arrival. “Her family told doctors she was unwell with acidity and had not eaten the entire day,” a senior police officer told TOI.
As per legal procedure, the hospital alerted the Amboli police (because the patient had not been admitted before her death), and an accidental death report (ADR) under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was filed.
Jariwala’s body was taken to the post-mortem centre at Juhu’s Cooper Hospital at around 1 am on Saturday. A mobile forensic team also visited her home late Friday to collect samples for toxicological analysis. Jariwala’s viscera samples have been preserved for forensic analysis. Results of the post-mortem report and the chemical analysis are expected by Sunday and are likely to provide better clarity on what exactly caused the cardiac arrest.
The police officer, who spoke with the doctors, told TOI that Jariwala was taking medications for skin whitening, hormonal tablets as well as vitamins with reportedly anti-ageing properties. “Jariwala was reportedly in the habit of taking 8–9 different vitamin supplements daily,” the officer said.
The Amboli police confirmed that they have recorded statements from Shefali Jariwala’s husband, her parents, domestic help and her cook as part of routine inquiry in an ADR case.
Jariwala’s death ended a career which had peaked following the super success of the ‘Kaanta Laga’ music video in 2003. The song accelerated the short-lived trend of sensuous music videos, many recreated from 1970s R D Burman classics, that flooded music television channels in early years of the new millennium. ‘Kaanta Laga’ was part of the best-selling remix album, DJ Doll.
‘Kaanta Laga’ was reprised in the Salman-Priyanka-Akshay starrer, ‘Mujhse Shaadi Karoge’ (2004) underlining the music video’s eyeball-grabbing power. In the film, Shefali boogeyed with Akshay Kumar.
In a telephone interview in 2003, Shefali had said that acting in the video was a turning point in her life. “I have been recognized even in Middle East countries,” she said. She was an engineering student then.
Her progression, thereafter, was modest. Jariwala performed in the dance show, ‘Nach Baliye’, in ‘Bigg Boss 13′, and, more recently, in the supernatural horror, ‘Shaitani Rasmein’ (2024), where she played a powerful female spirit, Kapalika. Incidentally, another participant of ‘Bigg Boss 13′, actor Sidharth Shukla, had died of a heart attack in 2021.
Jariwala had a sizeable 3.4 million followers on Instagram. Last week, she had posted a reel while getting ready for a shoot to the words of athlete-turned-influencer J B Copeland, “It’s time for us to start living life, like everything else is working out in our favour.”
Jariwala’s sudden death was widely mourned on social media. Among those who posted tributes were singer Mika Singh, actors Kiku Sharda, Kamya Punjabi and All Indian Cine Workers Association.
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The post-mortem report has “reserved opinion” on the cause of death, but viscera samples have been sent to check for drug reactions to actor’s anti-ageing meds
Madhulika Ram Kavattur (MID-DAY; June 29, 2025)
Mere hours after actor Shefali Jariwala — of the Kaanta Laga fame — and her husband Parag Tyagi organized a Satyanarayan pooja at their Oshiwara home on Friday, the city was shocked to hear of her death later that night. At the pooja, which was attended by all their family members, the actor was seen not to have any health issues, sources said.
On Saturday, while talking to the police, the family did not raise any suspicions of foul play, the sources said. Jariwala, who rose to fame after her appearance in the popular Kaanta Laga music video, was also a participant in the reality TV show Bigg Boss (season 13). Initial reports stated that she died of cardiac arrest. Preliminary statements of her husband recorded by the police hinted that she had been undergoing anti-ageing treatment for a while and was on medication. The statement was attached to the other papers, including the police panchnama, sent to the autopsy centre with the body.
Jariwala, who resided in the Golden Rays Building in Andheri West, was taken to Bellevue Multi-speciality Hospital in Andheri late on Friday. She was then referred to Cooper Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. The hospital promptly informed the Amboli Police about her demise.
Autopsy inconclusive
On Saturday afternoon, a five-member team of forensic surgeons and a forensic pathologist from the RN Cooper Postmortem Centre and HBT Medical College conducted a two-hour-long autopsy on the mortal remains of model-turned-actor Shefali Jariwala.
“We have preserved the viscera samples for forensic analysis to determine the exact cause of death. A preliminary report has been issued mentioning ‘opinion reserved’,” said a hospital source. “The viscera sample will be sent to the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory [FSL], Kalina, for microscopic analysis, and to rule out any drug reactions, apart from other findings. Only after receiving the FSL report will the Cooper forensic team issue a final cause of death,” a source stated.
When asked whether any injury marks were found on the body, the source responded in the negative.
‘Sensitive case’
Police sources told this paper that considering the fallout of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in 2020, they are following all procedures to prevent any controversy.
Given the high-profile nature of the case, the Amboli Police arranged for videography and still photography of the entire autopsy. A mobile forensic analysis team also visited the actor’s residence on Friday night to search for any potential forensic evidence. As of now, the Amboli Police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
The actor’s last rites on Saturday evening were attended by her colleagues and Bigg Boss co-participants. A family friend told Sunday mid-day, “It [Her demise] was very shocking news. She was just 42; people are not supposed to die so young. It’s so unfair.”