The shocking "suicide game" called Blue Whale Game highlighted by the last week's tragedy claiming the life of a young boy sent shivers down the spine. It is a fact that the Internet has seeped into the psyche of the kids so much that they disregard the outcome of such ventures and this is horrifying.
Suicide, or taking one's own life is , in itself , an enigma. Whether it is an act of cowardice or courage, is debatable. Cowardice, since the individual is not able to face life and Courageous, as it is not an act of the weak-hearted one.
There was a time when this was an offense, to be punished, if attempted. The law has been changed, but the instances of suicides, whether that of old or young, still unsettles most of us.
Bollywood has seen its share of artistes committing the act of ending their lives. These were creative and successful individuals who could not bear the burden of life. Had they thought otherwise, maybe life would have given them another chance. Let's explore the history of Hindi films to find out the luminaries who chose to have the limelight shifted from them in this tragic manner.
The first name that comes to mind is none other than Guru Dutt. A gifted individual, a path-breaking director, a competent actor and at the same time a person torn between contradicting loyalties, both in his personal and professional life: that's how one can attempt to decipher the personality of Guru Dutt.
Though his name was , he was given the name of Guru Dutt, not for films, but as it was considered auspicious. He did get lucky, leaving the job of a telephone operator to join Prabhat film company, Pune ( then called Poona). He was taken in as choreographer, but started to get bit roles and had to assist the directors, too.
His association with Dev Anand gave him success at Navketan and he made a name for himself as a director who could weave the realism in the film with a commercial backdrop, thus making it palatable for classes as well as masses. The inevitable stresses of vanishing success, complexities in personal life and its overlap with professional commitments became too much for Guru Dutt and alcohol coupled with an overdose of sleeping pills brought end to a fantastic career. Some say it was an accident, but the fact is that at some point of time, he had realised the pointlessness of the world and its ways, much like the character he played in Pyaasa and took his life at the age of 39.
There have been other young deaths in Bollywood, such as Meena Kumari ( 40), Vinod Mehra (45) and Smita patil (31), but they were not suicides. Excessive drinking caused the cirrohsis of liver for Meena Kumari, heart attack was the cause of Mehra's demise and Smita died during child birth.
The wilfull abdication from life is a different ball game, altogether. After the shocking death of Guru Dutt in the Sixties, there was no such tragedy in 70s and 80s, in Hindi film industry.
In 1990, there was another case of drug overdose. This time , it was a starlet and costume designer Reem Kapadia, who had acted in a few films like Haveli ( 1985), Kaash ( 1987) and Shehzaade ( 1990). She was better known as the third of the Kapadia sisters, the other two being Dimple and Simple. Reem was probably not made out for the stardom she was aspiring for, in the shadow of her illustrious sister. She was thrown out of films for her unprofessional behaviour and probably, found the easy way out.
The explosive news was that of the rising star Divya Bharti, who at the age of 19, jumped from a 5-floor apartment and met her last. As usual, there were conjectures about this being a murder, suicide or accident. However, reports suggest that she had attempted to take her life twice earlier. Divya had been popular in Telugu films and was on a crest after Deewana with Shahrukh and Rishi Kapoor was declared a superhit and had a lot of films lined up. Divya was known to be impulsive and her quick marriage with Sajid Nadiadwala, while she was still settling down is a pointer. In her death, Bollywood lost a good actress.
Suicide, or taking one's own life is , in itself , an enigma. Whether it is an act of cowardice or courage, is debatable. Cowardice, since the individual is not able to face life and Courageous, as it is not an act of the weak-hearted one.
There was a time when this was an offense, to be punished, if attempted. The law has been changed, but the instances of suicides, whether that of old or young, still unsettles most of us.
Bollywood has seen its share of artistes committing the act of ending their lives. These were creative and successful individuals who could not bear the burden of life. Had they thought otherwise, maybe life would have given them another chance. Let's explore the history of Hindi films to find out the luminaries who chose to have the limelight shifted from them in this tragic manner.
The first name that comes to mind is none other than Guru Dutt. A gifted individual, a path-breaking director, a competent actor and at the same time a person torn between contradicting loyalties, both in his personal and professional life: that's how one can attempt to decipher the personality of Guru Dutt.
Though his name was , he was given the name of Guru Dutt, not for films, but as it was considered auspicious. He did get lucky, leaving the job of a telephone operator to join Prabhat film company, Pune ( then called Poona). He was taken in as choreographer, but started to get bit roles and had to assist the directors, too.
His association with Dev Anand gave him success at Navketan and he made a name for himself as a director who could weave the realism in the film with a commercial backdrop, thus making it palatable for classes as well as masses. The inevitable stresses of vanishing success, complexities in personal life and its overlap with professional commitments became too much for Guru Dutt and alcohol coupled with an overdose of sleeping pills brought end to a fantastic career. Some say it was an accident, but the fact is that at some point of time, he had realised the pointlessness of the world and its ways, much like the character he played in Pyaasa and took his life at the age of 39.
There have been other young deaths in Bollywood, such as Meena Kumari ( 40), Vinod Mehra (45) and Smita patil (31), but they were not suicides. Excessive drinking caused the cirrohsis of liver for Meena Kumari, heart attack was the cause of Mehra's demise and Smita died during child birth.
The wilfull abdication from life is a different ball game, altogether. After the shocking death of Guru Dutt in the Sixties, there was no such tragedy in 70s and 80s, in Hindi film industry.
In 1990, there was another case of drug overdose. This time , it was a starlet and costume designer Reem Kapadia, who had acted in a few films like Haveli ( 1985), Kaash ( 1987) and Shehzaade ( 1990). She was better known as the third of the Kapadia sisters, the other two being Dimple and Simple. Reem was probably not made out for the stardom she was aspiring for, in the shadow of her illustrious sister. She was thrown out of films for her unprofessional behaviour and probably, found the easy way out.
The explosive news was that of the rising star Divya Bharti, who at the age of 19, jumped from a 5-floor apartment and met her last. As usual, there were conjectures about this being a murder, suicide or accident. However, reports suggest that she had attempted to take her life twice earlier. Divya had been popular in Telugu films and was on a crest after Deewana with Shahrukh and Rishi Kapoor was declared a superhit and had a lot of films lined up. Divya was known to be impulsive and her quick marriage with Sajid Nadiadwala, while she was still settling down is a pointer. In her death, Bollywood lost a good actress.
What would have to happen for a super- successful producer-director of the stature of Manmohan Desai to have taken his life, one wonders. The news of ace director's death by falling from his house made waves and it was not clear what transpired to trigger the tragedy. Desai, whose success rate was 65% ( 13 of his 20 films were superhits) was a widower at the time of his death and was engaged to actress Nanda. The reason behind his death was touted to be a weak railing in his balcony , on which he leaned and fell. Again, the suicide was never confirmed, but it was a fact that in the year 1994, he was going through a bad patch with Toofan and Anmol, his last two ventures flopping miserably.
Silk Smitha was predominantly an actress of South Indian films, but was known to Hindi film audience for her sensuous dance in Sadma. She was said to be under depression as she had accumulated a lot of debts from producing films, which she was not able to repay. She hung herself from a rope and ended her life.The film Dirty Picture, starring Vidya Balan was supposedly made on Silk Smitha's life.
One of the most glamourous heroines of her time, Parveen Babi became a sorry shadow of herself in the years before her death. Parveen had a great career, giving Zeenat Aman a run for her money , at times and teaming up with all big stars in multistarrers. Her romatic involvements were also well-publicised and it is said that after the screening of Mahesh Bhatt's Arth, she suffered a bout of mental breakdown, as the character of the other woman was resembling her to a great extent.
In later years, when out of work, she gave ludicrous interviews alleging foul play indicating her erstwhile co-stars ( including Amitabh Bachchan ). She was found dead in her apartment, after three days , having died of starvation.
It is really difficult to comprehend what happens in the personal lives of celebrity which make them take their own lives. Singer and columnist Varsha Bhonsle was the daughter of Asha Bhonsle and sister of Hemant, a music director. A well-educated lady, she wrote for Sunday Observer and Times of India. She sang for films, mostly Marathi. She was known to have attempted suicide by popping an overdose of prescribed medicine and was saved in time. Her second attempt was however fatal, as she shot herself in her house. A loss to the world of music and journalism, alike.
The last ( thankfully, as writing about sordid events on a sunny Sunday morning is itself an anathema !) celebrity to have committed suicide was Jiah Khan, when she hung herself ( or was it staged?). She had acted in three films , all well-known ( Nishabd, Ghajini and Housefull) and had a successful career lined up. However, she was also in a live-in relationship with Sooraj Pancholi and the relationship was a controversial one, too. Her death is still said to be under investigation.
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