Mumbai : Ram Gopal Varma, who gave Britain-born actress Nafisa alias Jiah Khan a Bollywood launchpad with 2007 film “Nishabd”, is “shocked and chocked” over the news of her death. He says she was depressed about her career, and scared about her future as she had no work the past three years.
“The last time I met her, Jiah told me that everyone around her makes her feel like a failure,” Varma posted on his Twitter page, after hearing the news that the 25-year-old had committed suicide at her Juhu home here around midnight.
“Inspite of being highly appreciated in ‘Nishabd’ and being a part of hugely successful ‘Ghajini’ and ‘Housefull’, she had no work for the last three years. I don’t know the reason what led to this, but Jiah was very depressed about her career and scared for her future,” he added.
Varma said that he had “never ever seen a debutant actress with more spunk and more spirit than Jiah when I was directing her in ‘Nishabd'”.
“Nishabd” required Jiah to face the camera with a thespian like Amitabh Bachchan in an unusual love story between a 18-year-old and 60-year-old. And she did it with confidence.
The movie was controversial and not very well-received at the box office, but it made the industry sit up and take notice of the then 19-year-old girl Jiah, who left a lasting impression with her act of a free-spirited soul.
“So young and so pretty,” recalls Varma, adding: “Just can’t believe that someone as young and so full of life is just dead. No matter what her problem was, I just so wish she applied her on screen philosophy of ‘Nishabd’ to her own life which is to ‘Take Lite’.”