Aarthi Agarwal (March 5, 1984 – June 6, 2015) was an American actress of Indian origin who primarily worked in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...

and Tamil cinema.

Early life and career

Agarwal was born on March 5, 1984, in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

to Gujarati parents. Her younger sister Aditi Agarwal is also an actress in the Telugu film industry. At around 14 years of age, actor

Suniel Shetty Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, and entrepreneur, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, with appearances in Tamil films. Nicknamed as Anna, Shetty has appeared in ...

spotted her and invited her to dance on stage in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. After the performance, he asked her father to encourage her to take up acting in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. At the age of 16 she made her film debut in ''

Paagalpan ''Paagalpan'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi language action-romance film starring Karan Nath and Aarti Agarwal. Synopsis Aarti Agarwal and Karan Nath star as Roma Pinto and Sameer Malhotra. Roma Pinto, a beautiful young teenager, is the pride a ...

'' (2001). Agarwal made her Telugu film debut in '' Nuvvu Naaku Nachav'' (2001) with actor Venkatesh. She was one of the few non-

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

speaking actresses to work with noted Indian film stars

Chiranjeevi Konidela Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, philanthropist and former politician known for his work in Telugu cinema. Known as the "Mega Star", he is widely regarded as one of the most succe ...

Nandamuri Balakrishna Nandamuri Balakrishna (born 10 June 1960), also known as Balayya or NBK, is an Indian actor, film producer, politician and philanthropist known for his works in Telugu cinema. Balakrishna is an elected member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative A ...

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

, Venkatesh,

Prabhas Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prabhas Raju (; born 23 October 1979), known mononymously as Prabhas, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema, he is known as Rebel Star in ...

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...

Ravi Teja Bhupatiraju Ravi Shankar Raju (born 26 January 1968), known professionally as Ravi Teja, is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised for his roles in action comedy films, he is popularly referred to as ...

, and

Jr NTR Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. (born 20 May 1983), popularly known as NTR Jr, is an Indian actor, producer, and television presenter who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has been featur ...

. She tried venturing into

Tamil films Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Chenn ...

also through ''Winner'' (2003) and '' Bambara Kannaley'' (2005). In Winner movie, she was cast as the female lead initially. But due to her unavailability in the second shooting schedule, she was eventually replaced by

Kiran Rathod Kiran Rathod (born 11 January 1981) is an Indian content creator and actress. She is well known for her appearance in Tamil films. Rathod has established herself in Kollywood. She also appears in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. She is ...

owing to her popularity after the Tamil film ''Gemini'' (2002). She took up popular Telugu remakes of

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress and producer who primarily works in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She has received several accolades including a National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards South, four Tamil N ...

's blockbuster Tamil films like ''

Dhool ''Dhool'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by Dharani. The film stars Vikram and Jyothika in lead roles while Reema Sen, Vivek, Sayaji Shinde, Telangana Shakuntala and Pasupathy play other supporting ...

'' ('' Veede'') and '' Priyamaana Thozhi'' ( ''Vasantham'') In 2005, media reported that Agarwal had attempted suicide over the failure of a romantic relationship with a co-star. In 2006, following an accident at home, she was hospitalized with internal head injuries at Apollo Hospital, Jubilee Hills,

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

and put on ventilator support. In 2007, Agarwal married a software engineer; the couple divorced in 2009.

Death

On June 6, 2015, Agarwal was pronounced dead on arrival at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

. Agarwal, who had undergone a

liposuction Liposuction, or simply lipo, is a type of fat-removal procedure used in plastic surgery. Evidence does not support an effect on weight beyond a couple of months and does not appear to affect obesity-related problems. In the United States, lip ...

surgery six weeks prior, had severe breathing problems before her death. Her manager stated the cause of her death was cardiac arrest. She had been living with her parents in Egg Harbor Township.Wheatstone, Richard
"Bollywood actress Aarthi Agarwal dead after 'liposuction surgery gone wrong'"
, ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'', June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015. "But she had seen her career fade in recent years and was living with her parents in her home town of Egg Harbor Township."

Filmography

* ''All films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Agarwal, Aarthi 1984 births 2015 deaths Actresses from New Jersey People from Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey Actresses from Mumbai American film actresses American people of Gujarati descent American actresses of Indian descent American expatriate actresses in India Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Gujarati actresses CineMAA Awards winners 21st-century American actresses Actors from Atlantic County, New Jersey Deaths from surgical complications