National Award-winning actor Surekha Sikri has died at the age of 75. The actor's manager confirmed to SpotboyE.com -- "Three-time national award winning actress, Surekha Sikri has passed away following a cardiac arrest earlier this morning at the age of 75. She had been suffering from complications arising from a second brain stroke. She was surrounded by family and her caregivers. The family asks for privacy at this time. Om Sai Ram."
Surekha Sikri graduated from National School of Drama (NSD) in 1971. She started her career in 1978 with political drama Kissa Kursi Ka. Her glorious career spanned films, theatre and television. She, however, gained the most popularity for her role of a stern matriarch, Kalyani Devi aka 'Dadisa' in Colors' show 'Balika Vadhu', also starring Anup Soni, Smita Bansal, Sidharth Shukla, Shashank Vyas, Avika Gaur and late Pratyusha Banerjee. She was part of the show from its beginning in 2008 till its end in 2016. She also won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1989.
Surekha Sikri also won accolades for her portrayal of dadi in 2018 movie 'Badhaai Ho', co-starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao and Sanya Malhotra. She also won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie. This was her third National Film Award. She had arrived on a wheel chair to receive her award.
Surekha Sikri won her first two National Awards for Tamas and Mammo. She was last seen in Zoya Akhtar's segment of Ghost Stories that premiered on Netflix.
Image source:Instagram/ishashankvyas