Shefali Jariwala became an overnight sensation with Kaanta Laga at the age of 19 but an illness kept her from taking up work
In 2002, for a couple of months during the summer, there was one song that played in every party, every wedding, and even at the odd birthday party – the song of the season you may call it. The remix of Kaanta Laga (originally from the 1972 film Samadhi) was a chartbuster. Included in the DJ Doll album, it was a huge hit and also made the model in the music video – Shefali Jariwala – an overnight star. The 19-year-old became a sensation.
How big was Shefali Jariwala?
Kaanta Laga was one of the biggest songs of the year in Hindi, having spent weeks in various top 10 charts. It revolutionised remixes and began a new era of Bollywood remixes, focussed on music videos. The music video, featuring the 19-year-old Shefali, was also a rage. She was signed for her first film – Mujhse Shaadi Karogi – soon after. There she shared screen space with Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, and Priyanka Chopra in a brief role. But that was the extent of her Bollywood film career. She did only one more film – a 2011 Kannada release called Hudaguru. But Shefali did participate in two seasons of Nach Baliye as well as Boogie Woogie between 2008 and 2016. Shefali married Harmeet Singh of Meet Bros in 2004 when she was 22. The marriage ended in divorce in 2009. Since 2014, she has been married to Parag Tyagi.
How epilepsy derailed Shefali’s career
In an interview in 2020, Shefali revealed that she had lived with epilepsy ever since she was 15 years old. The fits and challenges to combat the illness took a toll on her fledgling career, forcing her to focus on her well-being, which resulted in her not being able to take up more work. In 2018, Shefali made her OTT debut with Baby Come Naa, a show that streamed on Alt Balaji. In 2019, she participated in te 13th season of the reality show Bigg Boss but failed to win. In 2024, after years away from Hindi entertainment, she made a comeback with the TV show Shaitani Rasmein.
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 "Shefali Jariwala in Kaanta Laga (left) and now (right)")
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