Jiah Khan Biography

Jiah Khan (born Nafisa Rizvi Khan, 20 February 1988 – 3 June 2013) was an American born British Indian actress, model and singer who appeared in Bollywood films. She made her film debut in the 2007 Ram Gopal Verma film Nishabd for which she was nominated for Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. She was later noted for portraying modern, independent women in Ghajini which was the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2008. Her performance in the latter earned her significant acclaim. She last appeared in Sajid Khan's directional film Housefull which was her second highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2010.

On June 4th 2013, she was found dead in her apartment in her residence in the Sagar Sangeet building in Juhu, Mumbai after hanging herself.

Early life

Khan was born on 20 February 1988 into a Muslim family in New York City. She was the daughter of Ali Rizvi Khan, an Indian American and Rabiya Amin, a Hindi film actress in the 1980s from Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Khan grew up in London where she completed her Edexcel O and A Level with a brilliant result of 5 As, before moving to Mumbai to pursue a career in Bollywood. She has two sisters Kavita and Karishma. She was inspired to enter Bollywood after watching Ram Gopal Verma's former protege Urmila Matondkar's movie Rangeela at the age of six.

Khan was a trained opera singer and had recorded six pop tracks by the time she was 17. Khan studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Manhattan, though she quit upon receiving a movie offer.

Career

Khan started her acting career as a child actress at the age of 9. She enacted the role of Young Meghna in the 1998 Mani Ratnam's terror film Dil Se.., in which she starred opposite Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta.

In 2004, at the age of 16, Khan was to act in Mukesh Bhatt's Tumsa Nahin Dekha but backed out when both she and the director felt the role was too mature for her; she was immediately replaced by Dia Mirza. Two years later, in 2007, at the age of 18, khan made her debut in Ram Gopal Verma's controversial romantic thriller Nishabd, where she acted opposite Amitabh Bachchan. Despite the provocative content in the film, it performed poorly at the box office, and earned mixed reviews from critics. Nonetheless, Khan received a mostly positive reception for her performance, with critics noting her confidence, attitude, and sex appeal. Raja Sen praised her portrayal of Jia, a seductive, free-spirited teenager, calling her performance "nuanced" and "impressive". Taran Adarsh agrees, saying that "Newcomer Jiah Khan is supremely confident. Loaded with attitude and sex appeal, the newcomer carries off her part with flourish. Her scenes with Bachchan are superb!" Rajeev Masand adds that she is "perfectly cast" for the film. She was also nominated for a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, however lost to Deepika Padukone.

The following year, she appeared alongside Aamir Khan and Asin in A.R. Murugadoss's psychological thriller Ghajini, the Hindi remake of its namesake. The film gathered much appreciation from critics, and went on to become the highest grossing Bollywood film of 2008, as well as earn the all-time blockbuster status. Khan's performance attracted mixed reviews, with critics agreeing that her role was "sketchy". Despite this, Sukanya Verma compliments her performance, commenting that Khan "continues to strike as an exquisite and expressive actress."

Khan had shot for a significant portion of Ken Ghosh's Chance Pe Dance opposite Shahid Kapoor, but was later replaced by Genelia D'souza. While both Khan and UTV have stated that "the reason for her withdrawal from the film was due to her not suiting the character". Khan made her last film appearance in a supporting role for Sajid Khan's Housefull opposite Akshay kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Deepika Padukone and Lara Dutta in 2010. Housefull was her second highest grossing Bollywood film.

In the months before her death, she had signed three South Indian films.

Death

Khan committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at around 11:45pm in a bedroom of her Juhu residence in Mumbai on Monday, June 3, 2013,` when her mother Rabiya and sister Kavita were not at home. Her body was taken to the casualty morgue at the JJ Hospital in Byculla, for a forensic examination and autopsy. Her body was then brought back to her residence around 7am on Wednesday, June 5 2013, following the post-mortem.

On the same day her Namaz-e-janaza took place at Sonapur Kabar Walla Masjid and she was buried at Juhu Muslim cemetery after Dhuhr prayer as per Islamic rites. Bollywood actors in attendance included Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Riteish Deshmukh, Siddharth Mallya, Sophie Choudry, Urvashi Dholakia, Prem Chopra, Ranjeet, Deepak Parashar, Sanjay Khan and Nagma in attendance. Bollywood stars reacted with shock at her death.

On June 7, 2013, a six-page suicide note was found by her sister. The note is reported to indicate that she had planned to end her life. A transcript was released by Khan's family which included mention to a recent abortion.

On June 8, 2013 Khan's condolence meeting was held at Vile Parle Medical Club to pray for Jiah. Bollywood actors in attendance included Aamir Khan, Deepika Padukone, Randhir Kapoor, Prateik Babbar, Sanjay Kapoor, Shweta Pandit, Kiran Rao, Urvashi Dholakia, Ranjeet, Deepak Parashar, Sanjay Khan and Nagma.

Suraj Pancholi, who was allegedly in a live-in relationship with Khan, was taken into custody in association with her suicide on 10 June, 2013. The Bombay High Court granted him bail on 2 July 2013.

Legacy

An upcoming episode of the TV series Yeh Hai Aashiqui will be loosely based on Jiah Khan's suicide, with Mihika Verma and Rithvik Dhanjani playing the central characters.

An up-coming 2014 film Jiah aur Jiah is based on the story of Jiah Khan, in which lead roles will be played by Kalki Koechlin and Richa Chadda.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1998	Dil Se..	Young Meghna	Child artist
2007	Nishabd	Jia	Nominated"?Filmfare Best Female Debut Award
2008	Ghajini	Sunita
2010	Housefull	Devika