Actress and politician Sonali Phogat, 42, passed away on Monday night in Goa after she suffered a heart attack. Born in a village in Haryana, Sonali started her showbiz journey as an anchor in 2006 and acted in a few Haryanvi films and the TV show Ek Maa Jo Laakhon Ke Liye Bani Amma (2016). In 2019, she also appeared in the web show The Story Of Badmashgarh. She had participated in Bigg Boss 14 (BB14) in 2020 as a wild card entry, post which she wanted to concentrate on her acting career, and she told us in an interview she was even planning to shift base to Mumbai. Her sudden demise came as a shock to her BB14 co-contestants, who remember her as cheerful and strong.

“She was a very strong, sweet and cheerful person. She used to always shower me with blessings. It was way too early for her to just depart like this. Sonali was a single parent, and her daughter Yashodhara is so young. I am not in a position to say much because it is very difficult to accept that she is not with us anymore. I used to be in touch with her regularly. I will need some time to come to terms with what has happened.”

“Samajh nahi aa raha mujhe abhi… Do din pehle hi baat hui thi unse. . . I am not feeling okay.”

“Sonali ji was like an elder sister to me. She had come for my wedding, and recently when my single released on Friendship Day, she asked me to send her the song. I am in deep shock. I wouldn’t call her a friend, she was more like a mother figure to me, very affectionate. ”

“She was like a mother to me. On August 7, we spoke, and she told me she was going to Goa, after which she was going to come to Mumbai, and we were planning to meet. She was a very warm person. I remember how she used to look after me in the Bigg Boss house. ”

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TV actor, former Bigg Boss contestant and political leader Sonali Phogat, 42, died of a heart attack in Goa, on Tuesday. On Monday night, she was taken to St Anthony’s Hospital And Research Centre at Anjuna in North Goa after she complained of uneasiness, sources said.

Actor Jasmin Bhasin, who was a part of the reality show with Phogat, says, “I woke up to this news and it is very shocking. I am numb. I don’t even know how to express my feelings. She was always nice to me and Aly (Goni, actor and boyfriend). She was a darling; she’d often text us. I had known her since Tashan-E-Ishq (TV series). She was very ambitious and wanted to do so much for women and society.”

Actor Nawab Shah, who played Phogat’s on-screen husband in her first TV show, Ek Maa Jo Laakhon Ke Liye Bani Amma, is “sad and shocked”. He shares, “She went too early. There was so much that she wanted to do [for society]. I remember, while doing the show, I would help her out with acting, as it was her first gig. But she was always keen to do a good job. Also, it’s quite alarming how people are losing their lives to heart attacks.”

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BJP leader and actor Sonali Phogat died of suspected heart attack in Goa on Monday. In 2020, she had entered Bigg Boss as a wildcard contestant. Her co-contestant, producer, Vikas Gupta shares his memories of her. “Sonali epitomised grace for me. It was a shock for me when I heard that she had passed away so suddenly. A reporter called and gave me the news. People have been passing away too soon and I get affected by it. Sonali was someone who went out of her way to make sure she did well in life, was health conscious and raised her daughter Yashodhara so beautifully. That is very inspiring for me. Sonali was not the way she was portrayed in Bigg Boss, but full of grace, warmth and kindness. She felt that people needed to behave like that in Bigg Boss. In real life, she was very positive, full of confidence and a sorted person. Any woman who makes it big from a small town might have an attitude which people may not like. But not everyone with so much grace as Sonali can actually come so far, whether it is politics or coming on Bigg Boss 14.”

Gupta says his heart goes out to Phogat’s daughter. “Yashodhara had come on show and told her, ‘Aap Bigg Boss ke ghar ke andar dekh lo, baahar hum log sambhal lenge.’ For a young kid to say that, was mature. I feel very disheartened because people like Sonali are so much loved and needed. She was a young-hearted, vibrant person.”

Post Bigg Boss they kept in touch too, says Gupta. “She was the one who would keep in touch always. Whenever she was in Mumbai, she would want to meet. Sonali was very kind to me because apparently, I was good to her on the show. She was supportive always because she remembered this incident where one group she had encountered was unkind to her and they had reprimanded her. I had consoled her and told her, ‘Look who you are. You are an amazing person and you are playing along with people who may not have the same outlook like you.’ That’s when she became herself again.”