Every time we read the news of a famous Bollywood personality passing away of unnatural causes, we instinctively get hooked to find out what really happened and start scouring the web in pursuit. The result is often disappointing because we still don’t know what transpired behind the scenes related to the death of our favourite stars.
Here, we share stories of some of the celebrities who died under mysterious circumstances.
1. Divya Bharti
The young and chirpy Bollywood star died at the age of 23 in 1993. It was said to be a suicide first, with newspapers floating all kinds of theories. Some parts of the media even suggested that she had an upsetting relationship with her mother. This news left the fans bewildered as to why a talented actress would commit suicide at the peak of stardom.
As if the initial reports were not enough, we heard that she had accidentally slipped from the fifth floor of her Tulsi Apartment in Mumbai and then finally it was revealed that she was not alone in her apartment that day, drawing attention to a murder angle. It is speculated and alleged that her husband Sajid Nadiadwala had links with the underworld and that the actress was undergoing an upsetting relationship with her mother, and so her death might be an amalgamation of a lot of built up issues in her personal life.
2. Jiah Khan
© BCCL
She made headlines with her bold role opposite mega star Amitabh Bachchan who played her love interest. Then, with some movies here and there, she was quick to disappear from the big screen. Just when we had a faded recall of Jiah Khan, the news of her untimely demise woke us in 2013.
The suicide theory was not ruled out here too. Allegedly depressed over a disturbed relation (she was reportedly pregnant at the time of her death) with Sooraj Pancholi, Jiah committed suicide. Her mother alleges that Sooraj Pancholi is the culprit and he even attempted to kill the foetus. Even though Jiah left a suicide note, talking about her depression and disturbed relationship, we don’t know the truth yet.
3. Pratyusha Banerjee
© BCCL
The ‘Balika Vadhu’ small screen actress allegedly committed suicide at her Mumbai residence in 2016. It immediately drew attention as parents and close friends of Pratyusha blamed her boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh for her untimely demise. Her beau was blamed for not helping her through depression and extorting money from her. Other friends said that she was not happy with her career and was undergoing financial turbulence.
After the post mortem, the cause of her death was ascertained to be ‘suffocation’. It is alleged that the actress was 2 months pregnant. It may not be as big as a mystery, but it is still a secret as to how the industry lost another young face. Was it a suicide or a murder or a case of abetment to suicide?
4. ‘Silk’ Smitha
© Pinterest
We saw the snapshot of her glamorous life after the release of ‘The Dirty Picture’ in which, Vidya Balan portrayed the life of the erotic actress. Her claim to fame was as ‘an extra’ in South films initially. Slowly she made a mark in the industry as a sensuous symbol. Her death shook the country as Silk Smitha was at the peak of her career at the time. But again, it was not clear as to what led her to commit suicide in 1996.
Some reports said she took poison while some claim she hung herself.
5. Nafisa Joseph
© BCCL
In 2014, at the age of 26, Nafisa Joseph the popular TV actress, model and VJ, took her own life. While many of us know it was a suicide, surprisingly, her family did not buy the police theory that Nafisa hung herself in her apartment in Versova Link Road.
Her parents cried foul and still do. The media reports suggest she committed suicide because of her failed relationship, however; her family is not ready to accept it because according to them she was a brave woman who couldn’t possibly even think of about it.
6. Parveen Babi
© BCCL
From the very beginning, the life of the Bollywood diva, who featured in Time Magazine in 1976, has been a great mystery. Her alleged obsession with her co-star Amitabh Bachchan has not been explicit. On the contrary, her affair with Mahesh Bhatt and Kabir Bedi was always the talk of the tinsel town.
She was mentally fragile and it is believed that Parveen suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. It was also said that alcoholism and genetic disorder led to her mental disease but whatever it was; it led her to live a lonely life. She passed away in 2005 and the fact that her body was discovered only a few days after she died, left us pondering over how she actually died.