The current dying of Sushant Singh Hindu burst Bollywood’s fast-fading scintillating public picture as his shocking suicide went on to develop into one in every of the most important Bollywood related police investigations to personal ever existed.
Unanswered queries and free ends raised concern throughout the trade, nonetheless, his dying is simply the tip of the iceberg as soon as it includes suspicious deaths in Bollywood.
The BBC’s new three-part documentary ‘Dying in Bollywood’ is arguably the first ever hard-hitting present that explores factual discourse across the subject of dying throughout the Indian movie trade. It tells the story of twenty 5 12 months earlier ‘Jiah’ (actual identify Nafisa Rizvi Khan) who was discovered lifeless in her purpose 2013.
Episode one doesn’t beat across the bush as soon as it asks ‘How did Jiah Khan die?’ in its title. in line with the police she died by suicide, nonetheless, a number of others suppose in any other case.
The episode begins with a clip of the late actress saying “What is that this fame? It’s the satan’s recreation. You run to succeed and you then let the vultures feed”. It’s a becoming speech that nearly sends shivers down your backbone, setting the scene for the story of her tragic and mysterious dying.
We study that Jiah was raised in London, related we tend tont on to comply with in her mom’s footsteps to pursue a profession in performing. She was nineteen years earlier as soon as she was plunged into the limelight collaborating in a lead character aboard Amitabh Bachchan in Nishabd, an Indian adaptation of Lolita. As we watch her rise to fame we’re given private accounts from Jiah’s sisters and mom, who facilitate to relate the windstorm of Jiah’s life whereas drip-feeding gorgeous truths regarding her suicide case.
Should you’re an actual Crime fan otherwise you’ve watched exhibits like making a Assassin, you gained’t be aghast by police inaccuracies in an exceedingly case like this. To the general viewer, the misconduct and sheer inaccuracies are jaw-dropping.
Exterior investigators create it clear that Jiah’s case was mishandled from the get go. The case was handled as a closed suicide relatively than being investigated deeper. as soon as police attended, her home wasn’t handled as a prison offense scene and because of this the tracksuit she wore a mere twenty 5 minutes earlier than her dying has ne’er been discovered, her telephone was wiped with no hint of fingerprints. as soon as the postmortem returned, marks in Jiah’s physique really useful exterior power that wouldn’t be typical of self-inflicted dying. These are solely plenty of of the quite a few particulars which handle to flee the Mumbai Police who’re guilty for her case.
The present goes on to disclose extra of those unanswered questions which make it blindingly apparent that her dying mustn’t have been an open and shut case.
Episode two delves deeper into Jiah’s life the place viewers study stunning particulars of her being pregnant, self-harm and her former relationship with actor Sooraj Pancholi.
The present touches on how Sooraj was perceived as a suspect. We’re informed “Sooraj Pancholi remains to be on bail charged with abetment of suicide”, nonetheless, there is no such thing as a stable proof to recommend he murdered her.
As an alternative, it unravels one other layer of Khan’s life and explores how she struggled with psychological well being and the way folks regularly took benefit of her. In episode 3 this deepens as we study that she was sexually exploited by an older man on the age of 14.
From then on, Khan’s childhood was stolen and he or she went on to be sexualized additional as she debuted in Bollywood simply 5 years later.
Nishabd gave her business success nevertheless it molded her notion within the public eye as a ‘daring’ and ‘provocative’ girl from the West. These oppressive stereotypes tarnished her identify and prevented her from progressing in her profession into extra critical roles.
With restricted choices, Khan went on to work with the notorious director Sajid Khan who’s portrayed as a Harvey Weinstein-type character within the present. He requested a younger Jiah to strip in an audition, and her sisters recall that this terrified her.
Because the present ends, the viewer is overwhelmed with emotions and left with so many questions. Jiah’s dying may have been prevented, however the largest tragedy is that the Bollywood movie trade failed to offer Jiah with the assist she wanted. Their reluctance to handle psychological well being points and predatory conduct is the rationale why Bollywood is such a harmful place for younger stars, particularly younger girls.
The dying of Jiah nonetheless haunts the Khan household at this time and the Indian authorities fail to be held accountable for his or her errors.
