Troubled love affair, failing career drove Jiah to end life: police

Mumbai, Jun 4, (PTI): Young actress Jiah Khan allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself with police claiming she was heartbroken after a failed relationship with the son of an actor couple which possibly drove her to take the step at her home last night.

The body of Jiah, 25, was found hanging at her 'Sagar Sangeet' residence in Juhu at around 11 PM where she lived with mother and sister who were not present when she ended her life.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that she was in a relationship with Suraj, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab for nearly a year. Jiah was said to be under depression after coming to know of Suraj's new love interest, who supplied jewellery to the Pancholis.

Investigators said the actress, who made her dream debut opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Ram Gopal Varma's 2007 film 'Nishabd', prima facie took her life due to her strained relationship with Suraj, a student at an acting institute.

Suraj and Jiah spoke over telephone a number of times yesterday, with the last call being made at 22.53 PM which lasted for two minutes. Soon thereafter, Jiah hanged herself. Post mortem examination revealed the incident took place between 11 pm and 11.30 pm, sources said.

Jiah Khan's family members

"Jiah was said to be very possessive about Suraj. Last night they exchanged text messages on their cell phones. Suraj also sent her a bouquet which she did not accept," they said.

Jiah was also said to be unhappy about her career in Bollywood as she was out of job for quite some time. She had told her mother that she wanted to take up interior designing as a profession besides acting in Bollywood.

Her mother Razia Khan told the police that Jiah had gone to Hyderabad on June 2 for an audition which did not go off well. The actor, she told the police, was advised to shed weight.

Both Suraj and Aditya were questioned by the police in connection with the case for nearly three-and-a-half hours and would be called again if necessary.

Bollywood was aghast at the news of her demise with megastar Amitabh Bachchan tweeting, "What!!! Jiah Khan??? what has happened? is this correct? unbelievable!!!."

Varma called Jiah a girl with "spunk and spirit".

"Never ever seen a debutante actress with more spunk and more spirit than Jiah when I was directing her in 'Nishabd'. The whole unit of 'Nishabd' was literally in love with Jiah.

"No matter what her problem was I just so wish she applied her on-screen philosophy of 'Nishabd' to her own life. Shocked and choked to hear about Jiah," Varma tweeted.

The British-Indian actress was later seen opposite Aamir Khan in "Ghajini" and Akshay Kumar in "Housefull". She had been missing from the big screen for a while now.

"Jiah Khan was full of life when I worked with her long time back. So sad that something drove her to take this extreme step. RIP," tweeted Anupam Kher who had also worked with the actress.

Actor Shahid Kapoor, said, "Shocked and saddened to hear about Jiah Khan... Very disturbing. RIP... May her soul rest in peace."

"Life has to be experienced and lived!It's a limitless ocean, have to swim through it,and not let it drown you! RIP Jiah Khan! God bless her soul," Bipasha Basu tweeted.
Filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan tweeted, "Can't register that Jiah is no more... Worked with her in 'Housefull' and she was so beautiful n such a good soul. Too young to go Jiah."

Filmmaker Kunal Kohli said, "What she must've gone through to take such a step we'll never know. May her soul rest in peace."

With her demise Jiah joined the long list of tinsel town celebrities whose sudden death shocked and saddened the industry--from Guru Dutt, one of the legends of Hindi cinema, to glamorous Parveen Babi, to southern siren Silk Smitha, whose life inspired Vidya Balan's hugely successful film 'Dirty Picture'.

Dutt, who gave films like 'Pyasa', 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' and 'Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam' was found dead after an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills in 1964. It was reportedly Dutt's third attempt at suicide.

While his family claimed it was an accident, the filmmaker was reportedly depressed over the 'distance' between him and wife Geeta.

Young and chirpy Divya Bharti died at the age of 19 in 1993, after she allegedly fell off the fifth floor of a building. Mystery still shrouds her death and it remains unclear whether she was pushed to death or fell off accidentally in inebriated condition.

One of the most glamorous starlets of her time, Parveen Babi, died a lonely death in 2005 at her flat in Mumbai. Her death came to light only after her residential society secretary alerted the police that she had not picked up milk and newspapers from her doorstep for three days.

The death of filmmaker Manmohan Desai, who made iconic films like 'Amar Akbar Anthony', 'Coolie', 'Parvarish' and others, created curiosity after he fell off his building at Grant Road in Mumbai in 1994. The real cause of his death is still a mystery.

Southern actress Vijayalakshmi, popularly known as Silk Smitha, committed suicide by consuming poison in 1996. Failed romance, depression and alcoholism were the other reasons that drove her to end her life.

Jiah Khan suicide: Police question boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi

Mumbai, Jun 4 (Agencies) : The Mumbai Police is questioning Bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi's son Suraj, who was said to be close to the late actor, in connection with her suicide, they said on Tuesday.

According to a senior police officer, Suraj was a close friend of Jiah and they had a telephonic conversation on Monday night before the actress allegedly hanged herself at her Juhu residence.

Police sources also said that Jiah and Suraj had exchanged SMSes last night wherein the actor asked him about his friendship with another woman to which he clarified that there was nothing as such and her suspicion was baseless.

According to Jiah's mother, the actress was depressed after having been rejected at an audition in Hyderabad. She wanted to pursue a career in interior designing as she wasn't happy with the way her film career graph was taking a plunge.

Jiah shot into the limelight in 2007 with her debut movie 'Nishabd' in which she starred opposite Amitabh Bachchan.

She got a Filmfare Best Debutant nomination for the Ram Gopal Varma movie in which she plays a teenager besotted with a man old enough to be her father.

Born and raised in London, Jiah, also known as Nafisa had shifted to India to pursue a career in acting. She worked in Aamir Khan’s ‘Ghajini’ and Akshay Kumar’s ‘Housefull’.

According to the police, Jiah ended her life at about 11 pm but did not leave any suicide note. Her mother Rabiya Amin, an actress in the 1980s was seen in the Tahir Hussain movie 'Dulha Bikta Hai'.

Here’s taking a look at Jiah’s last tweet dated 24 May:

“So sorry I have been off twitter! Took a bit of a break from twitter verse.. sometimes u need a sabbatical to recollect ur thoughts (sic).”

25-year-old Bollywood actress Jiah Khan dead

Mumbai, Jun 4 (IANS): Bollywood actress Nafisa alias Jiah Khan, who was seen opposite Amitabh Bachchan in "Nishabd", committed suicide at her residence in Mumbai's Juhu area, police said Tuesday. She was 25.

The Britain-born actress was found hanging at her flat in Sagar Sangeet Building in the posh Juhu area of northwest Mumbai around midnight. The cause of the suicide is not yet clear, police said, adding that autopsy reports were awaited.

The body of the actress was taken to the Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle Monday night and later shifted to J.J. Hospital in Byculla.

"The body was brought here last night. It has now been taken to the J.J. Hospital," a source from the Cooper Hospital told IANS. However, he didn't reveal why the body was moved.

Police are questioning her domestic help, security personnel and neighbours to ascertain what could have triggered the extreme step.

News of her death was first reported by actress Dia Mirza through a social networking site around 1.45 a.m.

Jiah shot into the limelight in 2007 with Ram Gopal Varma's "Nishabd" in which she plays a teenager besotted with a man old enough to be her father. She got a Filmfare Best Debutant nomination for the role.

"Shocked and choked to hear about Jiah," Varma tweeted after hearing the news.

"Never seen a debutant actress with more spunk and more spirit than Jiah when I was directing her in Nishabd," the director said in another tweet.

In 2008, she was seen along with Aamir Khan and Asin in the blockbuster "Ghajini", a remake of A.R. Murugadoss's Tamil film by the same title.

She was last seen in Sajid Khan's "Housefull" with Akshay Kumar, Reiteish Deshmukh, Deepika Padukone and Lara Dutta.

She was born Nafisa and changed her name to Jiah before going back to her birth name. Her mother is Rabiya Amin, an actress in the 1980s who was seen in the Tahir Hussain movie "Dulha Bikta Hai".

Too young to go - Bollywood mourns Jiah Khan's death

The "full of life" Nafisa alias Jiah Khan was "too young to go", tweeted the "Nishabd" actress' Bollywood colleagues, wondering what led the 25-year-old to take the extreme step of committing suicide.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan called the news "unbelievable", while actress Dia Mirza, who was among the firsts to tweet about Jiah's death, posted: "This is no way to go".

Here's what her friends and colleagues from showbiz posted on Twitter:

Amitabh Bachchan: WHAT ...!!! Jiah Khan??? What has happened? Is this correct? Unbelievable!

Dia Mirza: I was too shocked to say more last night. This is NO WAY to go! Life is too precious. The worst phases pass. THEY DO. Never give up! #Jiah

Sonam Kapoor: Terrible tragedy. Very very shocking and disturbing news. Nobody should be in so much pain and a state of such hopelessness. I hope her soul finds some respite in death.

Shruti Haasan: RIP Jiah Khan - so sad to hear this news this morning. May she find her happiness somewhere.

Anupam Kher: Jiah Khan was full of life when I worked with her long time back. So sad that something drove her to take this extreme step.

Riteish Deshmukh: Worked with Jiah in Housefull. She was full of life and had incredible sense of humour. She was a friend and will miss her. Am deeply saddened

Shahid Kapoor: Shocked and saddened to hear about Jiah Khan. Very disturbing.

Bipasha Basu: RIP Jiah Khan! God bless her soul!

Amrita Arora RIP Jiah khan... Too young too beautiful to be gone so soon!

Celina Jaitly: Cannot fathom what led her to such an unfortunate end...what must she be going through. Rest in peace in arms of God Jiah. Adieu!

Sonu Sood: Shocked by Jiah Khan's news. Had met her recently, was full of life...too early to go. RIP.

Manoj Bajpayee: Its shocking to hear that a young one has commited suicide. May your soul rest in peace Jiah Khan! Too young to go.

Neha Dhupia: Shocked and saddened by the news. Gone way too soon. RIP Jiah Khan

Kunal Kohli: What she must've gone through to take such a step we'll never know. May her soul rest in peace. Jiah Khan.

Aditi Rao Hydari: Very sad news about Jiah khan. Makes me feel vulnerable. It's a strange world.

Rohit Roy: Woke up to the terribly sad news about Nafisa. Such a sweet girl. No age and surely no way to go.

Arshad Warsi: Shocked to hear about Jiah Khan, she was too young to give up on life.

Kunal Kapoor: So shocked and saddened by this terrible news!! May your soul find peace.

Minissha Lamba: Jiah Khan.... Peace be upon your beautiful soul