The news of BA Pass actress Shikha Joshi's suicide has come as a shock to many in Bollywood. The film's leading actress Shilpa Shukla tells us she just can't believe that someone would slit her throat to end her life. “I reached Delhi on Sunday morning and I got the news in the afternoon. It's shocking,“ says Shilpa, adding that earlier that day, she had seen that Shikha had changed her social networking profile picture from a coloured photo to a black-and-white one with her family. “She would regularly update her picture, looking beautiful and smiling,“ she says.

Recalling the BA Pass post-release party, Shilpa says, “We danced a lot and had a nice warm chat too. She was someone who made an effort to stay in touch.“ There have been reports that Shikha was depressed and felt the molestation incident that took place in 2011 had harmed her acting career. “Only she would know what was upsetting her. Perhaps there is an attempt to build the case and find out what led her to that extreme step. While we should look into all reasons collectively, I don't know if it can be pinned down to one thing. The moment someone takes such a step, everything is a stimulus,“ she says.

Recounting her audition for the film, she says, “There was something about Shikha, maybe magic, that she stood out. To think that she took this step because of no work coming her way is difficult to imagine. Shikha was an expressive person. Those who have seen her posts on FB will vouch for that.“

Shilpa hopes a thorough investigation is conducted. “While I can't come to terms with the reports that she committed suicide because having worked and interacted with her, she didn't seem the kind of person to take such an extreme step. And even though we've heard of people ending their lives, that Shikha took such a painful way to end her life is just too difficult for me to believe.“