The actor gets emotional while talking about his co-star of films like Rajnigandha and Chhoti Si Baat, Vidya Sinha, who passed away in Mumbai yesterday
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; August 16, 2019)

Actress Vidya Sinha, who was last seen as Bebe in the TV show Kulfi Kumar Bajewala, passed away on Thursday morning in Mumbai. She was recently admitted to a suburban hospital in a critical condition due to aggravated heart and lung disorders.

The 72-year-old actress made a mark in Bollywood in the 1970s and 80s with films like Chhoti Si Baat, Rajnigandha and Pati Patni Aur Woh. Talking to BT, Amol Palekar, who now lives in Pune, said, “It’s terribly heartbreaking to know that my friend Vidya is no more. I was in touch with her daughter until the night before she passed away. I wanted to come over to Mumbai and meet her, but I couldn’t because I’ve had an injury. I didn’t know that I wouldn’t get to meet my friend for that one last time. She went through so much in the last few years of her life. It was a beautiful life wasted. I feel extremely sad; she’s left a void. We had remained friends even after I quit acting. What started off as a professional equation, while working on Basu Chatterjee’s Rajnigandha, turned into a friendship of a lifetime. We always stayed in touch. Each time that she was in Pune or when I was visiting Mumbai, it was a ritual that we had to catch up. Over the years, Vidya had developed a lot of health issues, but this time, whatever happened, was sudden. In fact, I had even spoken to Zarina Wahab. She and I would often exchange notes with each other about Vidya.”

Recalling the first time he met Vidya Sinha, Palekar says, “I met her at Basu da’s Worli residence before we started shooting Rajnigandha. Dinesh Thakur and I were theatre actors, and Basu da suggested that the three of us rehearse our lines together, something that was a rare practice then and is a must-do now. I met Vidya there. It was an attempt to make her feel comfortable in our company because she didn’t have an acting background. I gradually got to know her and it sparked off a friendship that became an inseparable part of our lives.”

She was like a mother to me off screen, too: Mohit Malik

Tanvi Trivedi (BOMBAY TIMES; August 16, 2019)

Actor Mohit Malik, who played Vidya Sinha’s son in the show Kulfi Kumar Bajewala, sounded quite shaken, shocked and at a loss for words when we spoke to him. He said, “She played my mother in the show and off screen, too, she was a mother figure to me. She was a constant support and always looked after me on the set. In fact, I used to tell my mother back home in Delhi that I have found someone like her on the set. Vidya ji had not been shooting with us for the last one month and when I visited her in the hospital a few days back, I was hoping that she would get better and come back to work. She also told me that she was missing work and was waiting to get back. I pray that her soul rests in peace. I can’t believe that she is gone. This has happened too soon.”