Shefali Jariwala Dies at 42: Remembering Her Iconic Cameo in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi

Shefali Jariwala Dies at 42: Shefali Jariwala, who rose to fame after featuring in the Kaanta Laga remix video in 2002, passed away on June 27, 2025, in Mumbai at 42. Her untimely death has fans and the industry thinking back on a career of fleeting but unforgettable performances. Though cardiac arrest is the reported cause of death.

Kaanta Laga was the ticket that launched Jariwala into the national spotlight and made her a star. But it was her small but memorable part in the 2004 comedy Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, directed by David Dhawan, that proved she could make an impact even in a short screen time. Jariwala’s two-minute scene as Bijli is still a part of the film.

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Mujhse Shaadi Karogi was a comedy where Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar were vying for Priyanka Chopra’s character and was released on July 30, 2004. Jariwala’s entry was perfect for the film’s tone, which was loud and visual. Shot in slow motion, her entry has a seductive hair flip and ends with the dialogue “Bijli hoon main—don’t touch me; you’ll get a shock”. Both the promotional material and fan discussions would later reference this scene.

In this scene, Khan’s character finds himself in a sticky situation with Bijli as they are mistaken for each other in a bedroom. This becomes one of the film’s running gags and advances the plot and elevates her entry from a mere plot device to a comic beat.

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Apparently, the casting was a calculated move according to interviews at the time. The makers and choreographer Ganesh Acharya were banking on Jariwala’s popularity from the hit show Kaanta Laga to attract a younger audience. To cash in on the existing memory, Acharya even included dance moves that were reminiscent of the remix video. The internet keeps rekindling her Mujhse Shaadi Karogi moment. Fan videos are referencing, remixing, and cutting the scene, and putting it alongside her 2002 appearance. A fact about Bollywood is that a cameo, when done right, can have the impact of a lead role, and the sequence’s continued popularity is proof of that.

Her family has requested privacy during this time, and Jariwala is gone. She may not have had a long screen time, but her cultural impact was huge, as per the many tributes she’s getting from fans and colleagues.

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