Such a sad day this morning to wake up to and find out that Bollywood actress Jiah Khan has committed suicide! Aside from that, no other details were given by the police. Jiah lived with her mother in Mumbai and she apparently hanged herself using a piece of cloth around 11pm.
Ram Gopal Varma, who launched Jiah in ‘Nishabd’, had this to say about her death:
The last time I met her, Jiah told me that everyone around her makes her feel like a failure. Inspite of being highly appreciated in ‘Nishabd’ and being a part of hugely successful ‘Ghajini’ and ‘Housefull’, she had no work for the last three years. I don’t know the reason what led to this, but Jiah was very depressed about her career and scared for her future.So young and so pretty. Just can’t believe that someone as young and so full of life is just dead. No matter what her problem was, I just so wish she applied her on screen philosophy of ‘Nishabd’ to her own life which is to ‘Take Lite’.
Below is a reader’s comment on TOI about Jiah’s death and what Bollywood has to do with:
It is a shame, a pity that such a young life has been lost. Having said, all the Bollywood wallahs are coming out after the tragic event. Why don’t they have a support system for their colleagues – it seems the actors do suffer a lot if they struggle in the industry. But the hypocrites are all out “expressing their sincere condolences”. Bunch of uncaring, self-obsessed, selfish, incestous BOLLYWOODIES, who do NOT really give a SH&* about anyone. Go back to making your THIRD RATE films, love films, where all the HEROES are well into their fourties and the HEROINES in early twenties. Bollywood lacks any creativity. they copy scripts, copy whole story lines, lift music from all over the world and try to pass it as their own – pathetic. It is abunch of family people looking after each other, no more.
Aamir Khan, who acted with Jiah in ‘Ghajini’ is shocked to hear about her death, he had this to say:
I am deeply pained to hear this very tragic news. Jiah is a close family friend and I can only imagine what grief her mother and her family must be going through. I wish I had known that she was troubled and needed help.
Chunky Pandey, who worked with Jiah in ‘Housefull’ commented on her death recently.
She was so much fun. We shot our portions in Italy and Macau and she was game for all kind of improvisations. She was a very happy soul, always laughing and I still can’t believe what happened to her. In fact, I recently bumped into her and she looked very confident and happy.
Pooja Bhatt Tweets about Jiah Khan
Why couldn’t we show this love to Jiah Khan when she was alive? Why does it take death for us to finally be gracious and kind? RIP sweet child.
Khalid Mohammad speaks about Jiah
Jiah Khan’s life and death aren’t a typical case study of a girl who wanted to be a marquee empress. It’s more symptomatic of a young woman who was ill-equipped for the pressures endemic in the classic search for stardom. Jiah Khan would speak her heart about the casting couchwallas but laugh, ‘It’s all quite gross really. Bollywood’s not for me..
Shobha De on Jiah Khan and the Temptations of Bollywood
Unlike another London girl ( Katrina Kaif), Jiah didn’t meet a patron saint called Salman Khan,either.Had that happened,she’d still be alive. And successful to boot. Jiah probably imagined she could hack it by herself, relying on talent and good looks. Poor Jiah. Little did she know there are thousands like her on the fringes of Bollywood, hanging around producers/directors and just about anybody connected to a studio, in the hope of getting a role. Any bloody role. In retrospect-,maybe it was Jiah’s early and comparatively easy success that killed her.
Rabia Khan, Jiah’s mother had this to say in her police statement
She was fed up with the struggle… she was besotted with Bollywood, but Bollywood had nothing to offer her.
Amitabh Bachchan wrote on Jiah on his experience of working with her in her debut film ‘Nishabd’ and on her sudden death
As her first film, she had the naturalness that does not come easy for a first timer. On set we would often talk of this strain in her. I am distraught that she ended her life, but I am also discomforted by the thought of what she could have achieved in the profession … a profession that does demand very large portions of patience. Sharing the discomfort of such a state often eases the mind and the body. Speaking it out to a near and dear does reduce the possibility of that drastic action in the end. Easily said I would imagine. But little do we know what ails that condition within an individual. Perhaps sharing too is a condition. In the end, the end remains with the person who ends it.
Jiah’s doctor, Dr. Singh, had this to say on her
I had advised her friends, including Sooraj Pancholi against leaving her alone, even for a day. She had several personal problems and felt very lonely. She was an intelligent girl, very respectful. She did not have any professional issues. It was the personal crises in her life that made her end it.
The police have released a timeline of events leading to Jiah Khan’s death, these involve her boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi, as the police believe that she may have committed suicide because of a failed relationship.
Saturday morning, June 1: Jiah Khan leaves for Hyderabad to audition for a Tamil film. However, she is turned down and the casting directors tell her she is too underweight for the role
Around 7pm: Jiah returns to Mumbai. Sources said she was upset and told her mother that her career in the film industry was going nowhere and she was contemplating becoming an interior designer
Around 9pm: Jiah goes to her boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi’s residence at Gandhigram Road in Juhu, Vile Parle (West). She stays at his house for the night and the following day
Sunday, June 2, around 9pm: Jiah and Sooraj have dinner at a Juhu-based five-star hotel, following which he drops her home at Sagar Sangeet building in Juhu
Monday, June 3: Jiah and Sooraj exchange several calls and text messages on the day she killed herself. Police said at least 10 calls, each lasting for over two minutes, are made between the two, apart from seven to eight text messages
Around 7pm: Jiah tells Sooraj over the phone that she has bagged roles in three films
Around 8.45pm: Sooraj sends a congratulatory bouquet to her residence, which is delivered by his help Deva
Around 9pm: After Sooraj does not respond to her calls, Jiah sends him a text message: “Why are you so cold?” Sooraj replies saying he is busy with work. Jiah then expresses suspicion that he is dating another woman, to which Sooraj replies that she is misunderstanding him. The police on Tuesday said that the woman who Jiah suspected is Sooraj’s jeweller.
Around 9.15pm: Jiah goes to the watchman of her building, gives him the bouquet asking him to throw it, and returns to her apartment
Around 9.30pm: Jiah goes to Sooraj’s residence and calls him from outside, but he does not answer. She then calls Deva, who says Sooraj is busy as he is talking to his father, actor Aditya Pancholi
Around 9.50pm: Jiah returns to her apartment
10.53pm: Jiah calls Sooraj and has a two-minute-long conversation with him
11.07pm: She messages him saying if things continue the way they are, she will return to London
Between 11.07pm and 11.22pm: Sooraj sends Jiah three messages requesting her to call him, but she does not respond
11.23pm: Jiah’s mother Rabea returns home and finds her hanging from the ceiling fan in her bedroom.
One of my favourite songs from ‘Nishabd’:
One of my favourite songs from ‘Ghajini’:
Jiah Khan Live at an Award Show
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