MYSTERIES

MYSTERIES

Divya Bharti was the rising star of Indian cinema when she was launched way back in the 90s. While she won a million hearts with her acting in the commercially successful Deewana, Divya's acting career did not last long. Just as she turned 18, Divya decided to get married to Sajid Nadiadwala whom she met while working on the sets of Shola Aur Shabnam. Nadiadwala had come to meet actor Govinda but fell in love with Divya Bharti. According to reports, the doll-like Divya Bharti and her marriage to Sajid Nadiadwala was kept a secret so as to not affect her prosperous film career. However, Divya's happiness was short lived as on April 5, 1993, Divya was found dead after she fell from the balcony of her Tulsi apartment building on the fifth floor in Versova, Mumbai. While some call it accidental death, there have been other reports in the media hinting at the alleged involvement of the underworld mafia. According to reports in the media released during that time, Divya Bharti's body was sent for examination and a fair amount of alcohol was found in her blood. It was also reported that designer Neeta Lulla and her husband Dr Shyam Lulla had met Divya Bharti that evening. While the investigation of the case was stopped in 1998 and her falling from the balcony was termed as 'accidental death', speculations and the mystery around Bollywood's then youngest heroine cannot be overlooked.

The bombshell  Jiah who hit the cinema screens like a hurricane when she romanced Amitabh Bachchan in Nishabd gave the world another shock with the news of her suicide. Jiah reportedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at around 11:45 pm in her bedroom of her Juhu apartment in Mumbai on June 3, 2013. Her mother Rabiya and sister Kavita were not at home at that time. While depression was touted as the main reason at that time for the actress to end her life, a six page suicide note found by her sister in the house four days later mentioned that Jiah reportedly got an abortion and this sparked various controversies. Jiah's relationship with upcoming actor Suraj Panscholi, son of actors Aditya Panscholi and Zarina Wahab, came out in the open post Jiah's suicide and he was taken into police custody. Although Suraj was released on bail, the case was moved into the hands of the CBI. On one hand, the late actress' mother Rabiya Khan demanded a re-investigation of the case, on the other the Panscholis slapped a defamation case against Rabiya of Rs 100 crore.

The country's most popular erotic actress, Silk Smitha ruled the roost career-wise and went on from an insignificant 'extra' in South films to her meteoric rise as a symbol of sensuality in films. While her professional life was going great guns, apparently Silk's tragic personal life forced her to commit suicide on September 23, 1996. While we are unsure of Silk Smitha and the reasons that caused her to take this step, speculations about her imbalanced personal life, financial problems, disillusionment in love and dependency on alcohol come to the forefront. Silk apparently was found hanging at her residence in Chennai, while some reports also hint that Silk poisoned herself to death. Silk Smitha's intriguing personal and professional life and her shocking demise inspired Ekta Kapoor to make a film on her. Directed by Milan Luthria, Ekta Kapoor's The Dirty Picture was released in 2011. Vidya Balan won both critical and commercial acclaim for her performance as Silk Smitha and walked away with the National Award for the same. Despite a film and various articles on Silk, the actress and her death remain an unsolved mystery till today.

Mamta Kulkarni's shocking disappearance is one story that has the ingredients of a Bollywood masala potboiler! Yes, the curious case of Mamta Kulkarni and her shocking disappearance got a lot of media attention. If speculations around the same are anything to go by then Mamta's alleged affair with international drug kingpin Vicky Goswami and her friendship with underworld don Chhota Rajan may have led her to this anonymous existence. According to a report in India Today, Mamta apparently converted to Islam and shifted to Nairobi after leading an anonymous life in Dubai for a while. She has also been managing a leading real-estate and hotel business in Dubai. Mamta, who has a few hits to her credit like Karan Arjun, Aashiq Awara and Sabse Bada Khiladi got involved with underworld kingpin Vicky and this started her downfall in films. It was believed that the couple left for Dubai and were living there for a few years. According to a report in India TV a picture of Mamta visiting Vicky in a jail in Dubai was released in the newspapers. A picture of a visibly old Mamta came out at least 10 years from the release of her last film. Mamta was also believed to be living in an ashram in India for sometime.

Death came too soon for beauty queen turned VJ/actress Nafisa Joseph when she committed suicide by hanging herself in her apartment in Mumbai on July 29, 2004. Nafisa was to marry businessman Gautam Khanduja in a few weeks' time and apparently suffered from depression that made her end her life. According to her parents, Joseph allegedly took the step because her marriage was called off. While Nafisa was doing well career wise, her personal life was sadly always in the doldrums. According to an Indian Express report dated July 31, 2004, Nafisa was in a relationship with model Sameer Malhotra and was engaged to him post her Miss India victory. Since he was a lesser known model, this may have led to their break-up. Nafisa then moved on to model and actor Samir Soni and was engaged to him as well. After their engagement was called off, Nafisa is believed to have dated actor Rahul Bose for a brief period of time. Post her split with Rahul Bose, she found love with automobile business owner Gautam Khanduja and her engagement being called off a few days prior to her wedding may have been too much for her. According to rumours, Joseph discovered that Khanduja was still married, although having told her that he had been divorced for two years. According to the Indian Express report, a few nights before her death, Nafisa and Gautam had a fight over the legalities of his divorce that led them to call off their wedding just two weeks before the wedding date. In November 2005, the trial against Khanduja was stayed by the Bombay High Court until January 2006. Khanduja claimed that there was no evidence to prove that breaking off the engagement had led to Joseph's suicide. He pointed out that Joseph's earlier engagements to Sameer Malhotra and Samir Soni had also ended. The beautiful actress Nafisa Joseph's death is another mystery that remains unsolved.

Actor Kunal Singh, who has worked in South films and was seen opposite Sonali Bendre in Dil Hi Dil Mein, allegedly committed suicide in his apartment in Mumbai. The actor was seen hanging by the ceiling fan of his apartment, by actress Lavina Bhatia, who then called the cops. According to a report in The Times Of India, Kunal who was working on the film Yogi at that time met the scriptwriters, costume designers and actress Lavina Bhatia a few hours earlier at his home. According to the report, Lavina claims to have gone to the washroom for ten minutes and when she came out, she saw him hanging from the ceiling. While a not-so-successful career is believed to have been a possible reason for Kunal’s death, the report also hints at marital discord. Apparently, Kunal's wife Anuradha got to know about his proximity to a co-star and that there were frequent arguments between them about the same. It is believed that his wife and two kids had gone to her maternal home in Ahmednagar at the time the incident took place. Kunal Singh's suicide remains a mystery like so many more cases.