Kaanta Laga directors Radhika Rao, Vinay Sapru say they will 'never make' a sequel after Shefali Jariwala's death

Kaanta Laga makers, Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru paid a heartfelt tribute to their song's star Shefali Jariwala, who passed away last week.

Shefali Jariwala's death shocked not just her fans but the industry as well. The actor and dancer succumbed to cardiac arrest on June 27, aged just 42. Now, Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, who directed the music video of her breakthrough song Kaanta Laga, have paid a heartfelt tribute to their star.

Shefali Jariwala became an overnight star with the success of Kaanta Laga in 2002.

‘We're retiring Kaanta Laga’

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Radhika and Vinay shared a joint statement remembering Shefali, “Yesterday Was The Prayer Meeting. Saying The Final Goodbyes... With Our First Photo Session Together.. 'Kaanta Laga' - CD Inlay Card.”

The director duo recalled their time with Shefali while filming the iconic music video from 2002, and said they will never make another Kaanta Laga since they wanted Shefali to be the only Kaanta Laga girl. “You Always Said You Wanted To Be The One And Only 'Kaanta Laga' Girl. So We Never Made A Sequel -- And We Never Will. We're Retiring 'Kaanta Laga' Forever. It Was Always Yours. It Will Always Be Yours... Shefali...RIP,” they added.

Earlier, the directors had told ANI about how they discovered Shefali while driving on Linking Road in Bandra. “We started our journey together. Radhika and I were driving on Linking Road in Bandra, and we were passing through a forest. We saw this young girl hugging her mother while crossing on a scooter. As we were driving by, Radhika thought she was very special. So we stopped and asked her if she would come to our office. And the journey started from there,” Vinay Sapru said.

Shefali Jariwala death

Last Friday night, Shefali was rushed to Bellevue Multispeciality Hospital by her husband, Parag Tyagi, reportedly after suffering a cardiac arrest. However, she was declared dead on arrival.

The Mumbai Police sent her body for a post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death. After the autopsy, police officials revealed that the cause of death had been 'reserved'. Her last rites were conducted on Saturday and saw the presence of several personalities from the film and TV industries.

After her breakthrough with Kaanta Laga, Shefali appeared alongside Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar in the 2004 film Mujhse Shaadi Karogi. However, her film career was short as she refused a lot of work while battling epilepsy. She gained further recognition on television with appearances in popular reality shows, including Bigg Boss 13 and Nach Baliye (seasons 5 and 7). In the latter, she participated alongside her husband, actor Parag Tyagi.

(With ANI inputs)