Known as the purveyor of all things rich and famous, Bollywood has also seen some rather tragic deaths that makes you wonder if all the glamour and fame is worth it in the end.
Madhubala
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Like Babi, Madhubala too ruled hearts of millions with her performance in movies like ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, ‘Howrah Bridge’ and ‘Mr and Mrs 55’. And like Babi, she died a lonely death with no one at her side with no one to look after her in her final days. Her marble tomb was adorned with ‘aayats’ and verse dedications from the Quran but even her final resting place was uprooted in 2010 to make way for newer graves.
Meena Kumari
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Meena Kumari’s real tragedy was that she could have seen the adulation her film Pakeezah was creating at around the same time she was fighting a losing battle to liver cirrhosis caused by
alcohol addiction. Known as Tragedy Queen, Meena Kumari died at the age of 40 without fully knowing how much audiences loved her.
Guru Dutt
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In 1964, Guru Dutt was found dead from an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills. Whether it was an accident or suicide is still out for debate. While his family claims the incident was an accident, it is more or less established that Dutt committed suicide. He was depressed about the distance between him and wife Geeta and had been having morbid thoughts for a while. It was Dutt’s third attempt at suicide according to his long time collaborator V K Murthy.
Silk Smitha
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Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati, or Silk Smitha as you know her, is one of the most well known erotic actresses we know of. However, Vadlapati was trying to change her destiny and name by turning producer after a successful stint in front of the camera acting in over 450 films for 17 years. Things did not fall in place for her and apparently she committed suicide by poisoning herself in 1996. Failed romance,
depression and dependency on alcohol have been cited as other reasons for her premature death.
Manmohan Desai
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Manmohan Desai’s films are the template from which Bollywood potboilers are drawn. The director of iconic movies such as Amar Akbar Anthony, Coolie, Parvarish and Aa Gale Lag Jaa. His death created as much curiosity as his earlier films after he fell off his residence building at Grant Road in Mumbai. Details about the real nature of his death are still shrouded in mystery. Some people speculated that Desai had committed suicide as his later films had not been successful while some others claimed that his chronic back pain had abetted his fall.
Priya Rajvansh
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Priya Rajvansh is one of the most beautiful and underrated actress from Bollywood who acted in films like ‘Heer Ranjha’ and ‘Hanste Zakhm’ in the 70s. Her death is the most sensational in this list. She was found murdered in 2000 but the case was initially written off as a suicide. It was only later established that she had been killed by her late husband Chetan Anand’s children and two other accomplices for property.
Parveen Babi
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One of the most glamorous starlets of her time, Parveen Babi died a rather sad death on Janaury 20, 2005 at her flat in Mumbai. Babi lived a
lonely life and nobody knows for certain whether she committed suicide or if she died a natural death as her body was found after the flat had to be broken into by the police.
Divya Bharti
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One of the most shocking deaths in Bollywood came upon the young and vivacious Divya Bharti who died at the tender age of 19. It is still unclear if she fell off the fifth floor of a building or whether she was pushed by someone or if she was drunk and lost her balance. What is known is that Bharti left an impact on the industry even in her brief career period with films like ‘Deewana’.
Kunal Singh
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Remember the long-haired guy from ‘Dil Hi Dil Mein’? He was named Kunal Singh and his death by hanging in 2008 caused quite a flutter in the industry after his father claimed that Kunal had been murdered nor was a suicide note found at his house.
Nafisa Joseph
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Popular VJ Nafisa Joseph’s budding Bollywood career came to an abrupt halt after hanging herself to death at the age of 26. According to police investigation, she was due to marry businessman Gautam Khanduja in a few weeks time and that a spat with Khanduja pushed her to the edge.
