Amitabh Bachchan has written a letter to the family of child artiste Taruni Sachdev who died in the Nepal plane crash that killed 13 Indians. Mr Bachchan, who co-starred with Taruni in Paa, wrote in the letter: "We are all very shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the unfortunate and accidental passing away of Taruni and her mother in the recent air crash in Jomsom, Nepal. Taruni was an exceptional child, full of confidence and a huge of amount of talent, hitherto unseen."

"As a permanent member of the star cast of our film Paa, she was outstanding. It is difficult to believe that she has to become a victim of such a grim tragedy. Our deepest and heartfelt condolences from all of us and the cast and crew of Paa," Big B added. Mr Bachchan had earlier expressed his grief and shock at the death of Taruni, also famous as the Rasna girl, on Twitter.

Airport authorities confirmed that Taruni and her mother were on the Dornier aircraft owned by private Agni Air company which was carrying 18 passengers and a crew of three from the resort town of Pokhara to Jomsom when it crashed while landing on the mountain airstrip. Her body has been brought to Mumbai today.

Taruni played the role of Amitabh Bachchan's friend in National Award winning film Paa and also appeared in two Malayalam films, Vellinakshatram (2004) and Sathyam (2004) with Prithviraj and Priyamani. She also appeared on Shah Rukh Khan's reality quiz show Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain? At 14, Taruni had already featured in almost 50 ads.