Mumbai: Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana on Friday said he has many fond memories of Surekha Sikri when they worked on Badhaai Ho but it was a moment that he shared with the veteran post the film's screening that left him "speechless" and in awe of her grace and simplicity.
Ayushmann took to Instagram and posted a tribute for the veteran actor, who died on Friday following a cardiac arrest. She was 75. Badhaai Ho, which was a surprise hit of the year 2018, was about a middle-aged couple who get pregnant, much to the disappointment of their son. Directed by Amit Sharma, the movie featured Sikri as the family's matriarch Durga Devi and Khurrana as her grandson Nakul.
Khurrana said the cast of Badhaai Ho, which included actors Neena Gupta, Gajrao Rao and Sanya Malhotra, was one big family and Sikri was the head. "In every film we have a family and we end up spending more time with the film family than our own families. One such beautiful family was in Badhaai Ho."
"Out of all my films, it was the perfect family with a perfect cast. Surekha Sikri was the head of our family, who was more progressive than the entire family tree. You know what, that was her in real life too. A complete boho. A chiller. Young at heart," the actor wrote alongside a still from the film.
Khurrana recalled that after the film's first screening, he and his wife, Tahira Kashyap, had offered a lift back home to Sikri.
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"We said, 'Ma'am you are the real star of our film', and she replied 'wish I get more work'. Tahira and I were speechless. We watched her frail demeanour walking towards her building. That's my last memory of her," the actor said.
READ | Surekha Sikri demise: Shyam Benegal to Neena Gupta, celebs pay tributes to 'top-class' actor
Khurrana then requested his fans to watch a video of Sikri in which the veteran actor is seen reciting noted writer Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Urdu nazm Mujhse Pahli Si Mohabbat.
"An impeccable performer. A consummate artiste. A legend. You'll be missed Surekha ma'am. Thank you for the beautiful memories," he concluded his post.
Sikri went on to win a best supporting actress National Award for her performance in the movie. In her four-decade-long, the actor worked in many critically-acclaimed movies such as Tamas, Mammo, Sardari Begum, Zubeidaa, Raincoat, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer and Nazar. Sikri had also won two National Awards for Tamas and Mammo.
