Toral Rasputra, who played the lead role of Anandi in Balika Vadhu, was shocked and expressed regret that she could not meet her co-actor and veteran actress Surekha Sikri, who passed away, at the age of 75, in Mumbai today."I have no words. I woke up to the news of Surekha ji passing away and the first thought that crossed my mind was that I was not able to meet her in the past few months when she was unwell," said the Balika Vadhu heroine. "I had wanted to go and visit her in the hospital when she was admitted a few months ago, but could not due to safety protocols as I was shooting mainly outdoors around that time. It was not safe to meet an elderly person during the pandemic."
Toral, aka Anandi, recalls being extremely nervous while shooting her first scene with Sikri. She said, "I was shivering during my first scene with her. She was an institution of acting and here, I, a newcomer, had to deliver a long dialogue with her. I had rehearsed the scene many times, but I was still very nervous. I didn't want to irritate her by going through too many retakes, but she was very patient. She used to treat her scenes even during rehearsals as the final shot. Shooting with her for three years of Balika Vadhu was memorable, I learnt a lot about acting from hre. It is a great loss for me and the entire industry."
The actress, who was last seen in Molkki, said, "Dadisa was the most important pillar of Balika Vadhu. The show may have been the story of Anandi and her journey, but Balika Vadhu can never have been possible without Dadisa."
