Vinay: ‘We’re retiring Kaanta Laga, it belongs to Shefali’

Filmmaker Vinay Sapru, who on with Radhika Rao directed the iconic Kaanta Laga euphony video that turned Shefali Jariwala into an overnight sensation, has spoken exclusively to ETimes astir the precocious star’s abrupt passing and the unforgettable travel they shared."We came to cognize astir Shefali's passing distant determination astir the mediate of the night, you know, and it was conscionable a connection from Divya Khosla, who conscionable messaged and said she's passed away. And I indispensable say, it was astir an unbelievable concern due to the fact that 20 days back, we were each sitting successful our bureau and making plans for aboriginal and what we are going to beryllium doing. And present this quality comes. I indispensable accidental it was perfectly shocking and unbelievable.

It was similar a household member, a closest subordinate household subordinate passing away, you know. And we conscionable couldn't judge it. It was the astir shocking quality we could person heard," Vinay told us. The time they recovered their ‘DJ Doll’Vinay took america backmost to the infinitesimal Shefali entered their lives. “We discovered her erstwhile she was conscionable 19. It was not a enactment statement successful a structured manner—it was destiny. We were readying to bash this medium called DJ Doll and had this opus Kaanta Laga.

We were looking retired for a miss who looks similar a doll whose affectional nature, behavior, assemblage line, everything has to beryllium doll-like.We were driving connected Linking Road and a scooter came parallel to america with a parent driving and a young miss hugging her. Radhika and I conscionable looked astatine her and said, ‘I deliberation we’ve conscionable recovered our girl.’ We stopped them astatine a awesome and asked if she’d beryllium interested. She said she was an engineering pupil astatine Bhawan’s College successful Andheri and had nary experience.

But we conscionable told her that overmuch that I deliberation we deliberation that you are the idiosyncratic who conscionable fits the bill.

And we conscionable gave her a fig and a paper and we near and we said, if you're interested, you tin travel implicit for the auditions to our bureau tomorrow." From assemblage pupil to prima performerShefali turned up the precise adjacent day. “With nary camera experience, we said, okay, let's commencement the audition. And we were conscionable watching her doing the audition and she was conscionable similar a bundle of energy, and each hands and legs each implicit the place.

But the lone happening which stuck to america was the innocence of her. She was blowing these kisses to the camera and conscionable doing those moments which a 19-year-old does successful a nightclub. It conscionable struck america that we person recovered our doll.

" Vinay shared however Shefali would be assemblage successful the time and rehearse precocious into the night. “We told her you don't person immoderate camera acquisition and we would similar you to person you to bash rehearsals and all. She similar jumping with joyousness and she said, yes.

And she said, don't interest astir the rehearsals, you'll not person a complaint. Every time aft finishing the assemblage of hers, she utilized to travel religiously and bash the rehearsals till precocious night, spell to assemblage adjacent day, travel again.

From a miss who has ne'er faced the camera to learning each and each nonrecreational creation steps, movement, expressions, facial expressions, everything successful detail, she was moving connected and perfecting time aft day." A day she ne'er took offAnd it was not an casual journey. The rehearsals went connected for implicit 3 months, each azygous time without fail. Whatever small babe abdominous she had, she worked disconnected with gym sessions and rigorous training, perpetually pushing herself to execute the level of perfection we were aiming for.One anecdote that stayed with Vinay was Shefali’s day rehearsal. “It was her birthday, and she had conscionable received a brace of achromatic jeans from her sister.

Yet, she showed up for rehearsals wearing them. We asked her wherefore she hadn’t taken the time off—we adjacent said, ‘It’s your birthday, spell bask it!’ But she smiled and said, ‘No, I privation to rehearse and enactment contiguous due to the fact that however I walk my day sets the code for the remainder of my year.

’So we said to her, “But you’re wearing those achromatic jeans—your day gift! They’ll get spoiled.” She conscionable smiled and said, “No, no, it’s fine.” And past she went up and joined the rehearsals.

I inactive remember—by the extremity of it, those jeans had mud stains. She was conscionable 19, celebrating her birthday, and her brand-new acquisition was each patched with mud. Her eyes welled up with tears erstwhile she saw them. But she looked astatine america and said, “I don’t mind.

This is the champion day I’ve ever had—rehearsing, cutting barroom with each of you successful the hall... it was perfect.”The Japanese doll inspiration

Styling Shefali into the iconic Kaanta Laga miss took time. “It was a travel of grooming and mentoring—a process of shaping a miss who, for us, was similar a blank canvas.

As directors, the representation we were coating dilatory began to instrumentality shape, and the translation was truthful moving that it felt similar watching a young miss turn up wrong a close-knit family.When it came to her styling, we experimented with each kinds of outfits and hairstyles, but thing seemed to click. And past we spotted this Japanese doll—it had a precise circumstantial hairstyle: a cleanable slit with crisp braids tied astir a two-beat pitch.

We asked the hairstylist to effort replicating it, and the infinitesimal it was done, it conscionable clicked. It was perfect. I retrieve thinking, wherefore did we look truthful acold and wide erstwhile the reply was close successful beforehand of us? All we had to bash was recreate what already existed—and it acceptable Shefali similar it was made for her.

"Three pugnacious days of shooting, and past was made"We were each acceptable to go, and adjacent connected set, the docket was highly tight—we had conscionable 3 days to implicit the shoot.

We would battalion up past midnight, sometimes astir 2 a.m., lone to beryllium backmost connected acceptable by 7 a.m. the adjacent morning. But Shefali was ever there, connected time, afloat present, due to the fact that the full opus revolved astir her. Every frame, each changeable was centered connected her.She gave it her all—day aft day—through a gruelling docket of dance, performance, and precision, gathering each anticipation we had arsenic directors. It genuinely was a travel of mentoring a young miss we randomly spotted connected the roadworthy and watching her alteration into an icon.

She went connected to go a nationalist crush astir overnight.The full state was dancing to this 1 girl’s energy—a miss who was conscionable studying engineering successful assemblage erstwhile we discovered her. After 3 months of aggravated preparation, the remainder became history. Kaanta Laga turned into the astir iconic opus of its generation. Even today, much than 20 years later, prime up immoderate paper oregon article, and it’s inactive astir the Kaanta Laga girl—Shefali.

She’s perpetually referred to by that title, and rightly so.

And I genuinely judge it’s a fitting tribute. I retrieve her erstwhile saying successful an interview, “I privation to beryllium known everlastingly arsenic the Kaanta Laga girl.” And now, adjacent successful the look of specified a tragic and untimely passing, her privation lives on. As heartbreaking arsenic it is, each newspaper, each channel, each station says it—Kaanta Laga miss is nary more.What tin 1 say? Maybe it's true—God takes distant His favourite children early. Shefali was 1 of our favorites too. It genuinely felt similar she was sent into our lives for a reason. We were conscionable driving, and determination she was—this miss connected a scooter riding parallel to us. Who would've thought she’d spell connected to marque past successful the Indian euphony industry?She was afloat of life.

Full of dreams. Full of the tendency to marque thing of herself. And she did. She became unforgettable."A sojourn conscionable 20 days earlier her deathVinay besides recalled their past meeting. “We had conscionable met 20 days ago, truthful this quality has travel arsenic a implicit shock. She had travel to our office, bringing cakes and pastries from 1 of those Japanese bakeries she loved. She was truthful afloat of life—saying, “I’ve turned 40 now. I’ve had an unthinkable 20 years, each acknowledgment to wherever we began backmost then.

And present I’ve travel to program the adjacent 20 with you.She stayed for astir 5 hours—we had meal unneurotic and spoke astatine length. We were making plans: songs we wanted to create, the benignant of cinema we wanted to explore, the events we were going to curate. Her unrecorded performances had been specified a monolithic success, and we were each acceptable to instrumentality that to the adjacent level. Everything was falling into place, and we were conscionable astir to statesman this breathtaking caller chapter.And now... each we tin accidental is—it indispensable beryllium God’s plan. We are each mortals. Death is inevitable. But to spell truthful young... the lone mentation is that you were 1 of God’s favourites, and He wanted you backmost with Him sooner than the remainder of us."

‘We’re retiring Kaanta Laga’Vinay ended with a steadfast determination to sphere Shefali’s legacy. “The lone happening we tin clasp onto present is the representation of the unthinkable beingness she lived—those 20 magnificent years that began with Kaanta Laga.

From the infinitesimal we started that travel together, she breathed beingness into each thought, each idea, each ocular we had arsenic directors. She didn’t conscionable just our vision—she surpassed it. They accidental an histrion tin emergence supra the script, and that’s precisely what Shefali did.She became the doll we had imagined 2 decades ago—and that doll went connected to seizure the hearts of not conscionable India, but Indians crossed the world. And she volition proceed to unrecorded connected successful their memories, due to the fact that that’s what she ever wanted—to beryllium remembered.All we tin bash present is commune for her peace, wherever she whitethorn be. We miss you, Shefali. Take care.And arsenic for Kaanta Laga—we won’t marque another. Over the years, truthful galore radical person asked america to bash Kaanta Laga 2 oregon 3, but we ne'er could. And now, we ne'er will. Just similar a cricket squad retires a jersey number, we, Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, are retiring Kaanta Laga. It was the archetypal and the last—because it belongs to Shefali. It ever did.

She wanted to beryllium remembered arsenic the Kaanta Laga girl, and she ever volition be.God bless you, Shefali. Be happy—wherever you are."

On June 27, Shefali Jariwala died abruptly aft suffering a suspected cardiac apprehension astatine the property of 42. She was declared dormant connected accomplishment astatine the hospital. Preliminary investigations suggest that her decease whitethorn person been medically triggered alternatively than involving immoderate foul play.