Former video jockey Sophiya Haque died in a London hospital Jan. 16 after having been diagnosed with cancer two weeks earlier. She was 41. Haque, who shot to fame in the 90s as a VJ on MTV India, moved to Mumbai in 1997, when she began appearing in Bollywood films.

Haque acted in films like “The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey,” “Pehli Nazar Ka Pehla Pyaar: Love at First Sight” and  “Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors.” She recently starred as Sylvia in “Privates on Parade” in London's West End. She also played Poppy in "Coronation Street,” was seen in the 2008 film “Wanted” starring Angelina Jolie, and was a disc jockey on BBC's Asian Network.

According to the British daily The Guardian, Haque, who was born in Portsmouth, trained in dance and studied at the Arts Educational School in London. She found some success as a singer in the band Akasa, but became popular as a presenter on MTV Asia. She returned to the United Kingdom in the early 2000s and appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical “Bombay Dreams” and “Wah! Wah! Girls.”