Shefali Jariwala: Making such a spectacle of Sidharth’s passing was disturbing

Like many of his friends, Sidharth Shukla sudden demise came as an absolute shocker to Shefali Jariwala. The actor says she is still in disbelief.

“It’s been very difficult for me, the passing of a friend and something that we did not expect at all. It has been a shocker and it still has not sunk in actually,” she admits.

Shukla untimely death has also been a rude shock to his rumoured girlfriend, Shehnaaz Gill, whose visuals at the funeral were heartbreaking.

“Shehnaaz is a very strong woman. She will get through it,” says Jariwala, who participated with both Gill and Shukla on a reality show.

“Even Sidharth’s mother is very strong and his sisters. Normally as a mother she one would think she would be inconsolable but she has been so strong, she was holding it together. She is so strong. They all have each other and they will all get through it. I just pray to God that they have the strength to cope with this loss,” the actor hopes.

Slamming the circus around the actor’s death, Jariwala, who had earlier dated Shukla, says she was very angry to see how people were hounding his family and Shehnaaz.

“I was so angry to see the way people hounded her. You have to look at her condition. My heart was breaking to watch that. It was not right,” she continues, “Shehnaaz and his mother and sisters they are grieving, you have to give them the space and privacy to do so. And this is basic empathy, where is the compassions? I understand ratings and all but not at this cost.”

The 38-year-old says that Sidharth was a very private person and to see this circus around his death was difficult to process.

“It was very disturbing and knowing Sidharth who was a very private person and so is his family. His mother is very private; making such a spectacle of his passing was very disturbing for me to see. It is not something that Sidharth would have wanted. At the funeral it was a circus,” she notes.

Along with Jariwala, other participants of the reality show were also present to support the last actor’s family, including Asim Riaz and Rashami Desai.

“We all are there for each other. We are like family and we love each other very much. We share a great bond. I was so happy to see everyone come and support Sidharth’s family. That shows Sidharth’s aura also. Every one was deeply in the state of shock, whether it was Asim or Rashami, everyone who turned up there turned up for a heavy heart, they were there not with some other intention but because they had lost a friend,” she ends.