Agarwal grew up in New Jersey, dies there.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Popular Indian American actress Aarthi Agarwal has died at 31 years of age following complications from liposuction surgery, in New Jersey.
Agarwal, who has acted in about more than 20 Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu films, passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest due to respiratory complications at a private hospital in Atlantic City, N.J. on Saturday.
“Aarthi was battling obesity and pulmonary illness. She was undergoing treatment and due to some complications, she suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away,” her manager told news agency IANS.
While the procedure took place a month ago, Time revealed Agarwal had previously attempted suicide in 2005 at her home in Hyderabad after a relationship with a co-star went sour and her once gilded film career began to lose its luster.
Agarwal had reportedly earlier approached a Hyderabad-based surgeon to perform a liposuction, but he had refused because she had no fat under her skin, according to The Hindu. She was allegedly unhappy about her weight gain and according to the Movie Artistes’ Association, “felt forgotten after she starred in only four films” between 2008 and the present.
The Indian Express spoke with several cosmetic surgeons who railed against the lack of clear-cut guidelines regarding such surgeries from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons or the Medical Council of India, but only under the veil of anonymity. Liposuction is now the most common cosmetic surgery in the U. S. with more than 400,000 of these procedures done annually, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.
Born and raised in New Jersey in the United States, Agarwal made her acting debut in Hindi movie `Pagalpan’ when she was only 16. She is survived by her parents who live in New Jersey’s Egg Harbor Township and by her sister Aditi, who is a Telugu film actress.
Agarwal’s most recent film, “Ranam 2,” was released just a day before her untimely death.