Actress and reality TV star Shefali Jariwala’s death on June 27 came as a shock to the industry and the audience. Her first claim to fame was her appearance in the music video of the remix of the song ‘Kaanta Laga’. Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao, who directed the video, spoke about Shefali in an interview with us.

‘Kaanta Laga’ directors Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao on Shefali Jariwala’s demise, “20 days back, she was one bundle of energy, dreams and hopes and looking forward to a great life ahead”

Vinay and Radhika, Shefali Jariwala’s sudden death has shocked the entertainment industry
She was the closest and dearest protégée of ours. She was a member of our family. She was closest to us. Her death has saddened the whole industry and I can see the reaction which is going on everywhere. We switch on or every channel, newspaper, site, Kaanta Laga Girl, Kaanta Laga Girl, Kaanta Laga Girl, everywhere it’s going on and memories keep coming back into our mind.

How did you get to know of her death?
Divya Khossla called and messaged me at like 1.30 in the night and she was the first one who conveyed to me the sad news and from there on, it’s been just a floodgate of memories, which are so, so tough to cope up with, you know.

Tell me about your association with Shefali Jariwala
We discovered her at 19 and from there on, it has been just a journey with us and the beginning was so phenomenal. It’s been very, very sad for Radhikaji and me and yes, we’ve been in touch with her forever for last two decades since and after ‘Kaanta Laga’. But it is the saddest day for us, you know.

Doesn’t her death expose the ugly and dangerous side of showbiz?
Yes, actually, Subhash Ji, I would like to say that maybe this happens in other people’s life. But Shefali was never like that, you know, she was this one person who, from the day we spotted her on Linking Road Bandra and till the day. 20 days back when we met her, she was one bundle of energy, one bundle of dreams and hopes and looking forward to a great life ahead. She was never a victim of a circumstance or a victim of anything, you know. So, yes, there are cases and cases, but what happens that when death is so sudden and death is so young? One always tries to see this part of a life, maybe that person was a victim or maybe a person. No, it was never like that with her, you know, she was a positive person, she was always dreaming about a future and she was always ready to take on a life. And every moment, every place, every time that we met her, she was so well turned up, well groomed.

I believe she was religious
Apne ghar mein Ganpati ji rakhti thi, apne ghar mein Nauratre ki deviyan rakhti thi, bulaati thi, matlab she was so happy with everything that she got. And she was very content with being this ‘Kaanta Laga’ girl (image). And she was a happy soul. But she was one beneficiary of showbiz’s largesse, really took on from wherever she started and right at the top becoming the heartthrob of the nation with ‘Kaanta Laga’. But she took it on and she was like, she lived it to the fullest.

Your version of ‘Kaanta Laga’, how influenced was it by Lataji’s original rendition?
When we picked up the song, the only brief was, because when you’re recreating a song or when you’re redoing a song, you can always tamper with the rendition of the vocals, you know. But our only brief was that, don’t tamper with the rendition of the vocal, because that’s by the Goddess herself. I said, yes, we are recreating the song, yes, but there cannot be anyone who can render it better in the most perfect way, the way Lataji had done herself. So our only and the clear brief was, you cannot change the way that was renditioned.

So if you’ll see, the arrangement has changed, the music instruments have changed, but the vocals have been kept the way Lataji immortalized them. So, that was a clear brief from us as while we were creating the song. So that was clear and Lata ji, what can one say? She’s been an inspiration. She’s always been. I don’t think anybody can get the feel what she had and what the correct notes, correct emotions, I think, what can one say? And I always say that if God had a voice, it would have sounded like Lataji. And that was God’s voice. We are honored that we recreated this song and could do justice to the song by Lataji.

Shefali Jariwala was not able to make much headway after ‘Kaanta Laga’
See, I’ll tell you what, when you have such a big success and such a big iconic thing. When we designed DJ Doll, the album, and we made that song ‘Kaanta Laga’, and when we mentored Shefali, groomed her, we were preparing her for something which was closest to our heart. And she worked hard, rehearsals which extended to almost three and a half months. And then the result was for everyone to see. We are creative, we did storytelling, we directed, we produced, we got the music ready, we did all that. But at the end of it, Shefali was the face of ‘Kaanta Laga’.

I was watching her yesterday in every newspaper, on every television channel, everywhere it is, Kaanta Laga, girl, Kaanta Laga. It’s not that she didn’t do more work in all these years, or didn’t do anything else. But this was the one iconic thing she did. Achievement and non-achievement is a very relative thing. If your first song is ‘Kaanta Laga’, you will be called a ‘Kaanta Laga girl’, you will be identified with that. So I don’t think she ever felt that she didn’t achieve, you know. I am sure the soul, wherever it is, she will be a happy soul to see all over headlines.

So she was happy with what she had?
She was very content and happy. She used to do shows all over the world. She was the ‘Kaanta Laga girl’. She used to drop in at our office, happy and always prosperous. And always doing well for herself, her family. A premature death, a young death, I think it is unfortunate. But as they say, the one whom God loves the most, He takes them first. But as far as I am concerned, from where we mentored her as a 19-year-old to where she ended, I think she led a very happy and a successful life. So now to say that she didn’t achieve anything is wrong. She was constantly in touch.

Would you say you made her what she was with ‘Kaanta Laga’?
Yes, we were the creators. Yes, we were the people who conceptualized it, made the song, made the styling. Everything was ours. We spotted her, we mentored and groomed Shefali. But at the end of it, it was she who was the face of it. And to make an impact across the nation like a wildfire. She was destiny’s child. The whole nation was swooning over her. I’ve never heard anybody branding an artist as the name of the song. She became like the ‘Kanta Laga girl’, you know. I still remember the Bombay Times cover. She was featured as the girl who was breaking all records with the song. The face of the song which was breaking all records.

Was that a moment of great joy for her?
She came with some ten copies of Bombay Times to our office and saying, ‘Sir, I’m on the Bombay Times cover.’ Full of life, full of positivity, full of dreams in her eyes, you know. And all these memories come back and since last Saturday night that this news has come in. A girl who was so full of energy, a girl who was a destiny’s child. The way we spotted her, the way we discovered her, it was meant to be, you know. And then how she delivered is also one hell of a story, you know.

Almost a fairy-tale saga
I think every newcomer who comes in should take a leaf out of how she worked. From an engineering student to becoming this national nation’s heartthrob, you know. It was just an amazing journey. Radhika and I had this concept and this project with us called DJ Doll. And we were wanting to and had in that particular album, at that time albums ka zamana tha. In that particular album we had a song called ‘Kaanta Laga’, you know. So we were always wanting to have a girl who looked like a doll to go with the title, you know. And as usual our research was going all over India and all over the place. We didn’t know how to find that particular face which was doll-like, you know.

Also Read: Shefali Jariwala passes away: Himanshi Khurana calls Bigg Boss “cursed” in her tribute post for ‘Kaanta Laga’ star

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