Remembering Nafisa Joseph

We often talk about Nafisa, the smart and happening VJ from India. She was quite impressive as a VJ and almost everyone who watched her, loved her work. Though when I started looking at her pictures I couldn't really find really good pictures that would show how smart she looked really. It seems they don't have good records of people in the 90s or I don't know. It was a shock to hear about her death for her fans everywhere.

Nafisa was born on 28th March, 1979 and died on 29th July, 2004. She was an Indian model, won the Miss India Title in 1997 when she was eighteen. She also was the runner up in Miss Universe pageant that same year. But more prominently, people loved her as a VJ on MTV. It is said, she modelled for the first time when she was only twelve years old.

She also acted in an Indian version of Charlie's Angels called C.A.T.S. that was aired on Sony Entertainment. She edited a magazine called Gurlz.

Nafisa was appreciated for her work for animal welfare. She wrote a weekly column "Nafisa For Animals" in the Bangalore edition of Times of India. She campaigned for Welfare of Stray Dogs (WSD), People For The Ethical Treatment Of The Animals (PETA) and People For Animals (PFA).

Her sudden and untimely death shocked the world when she was found hanging dead in her apartment in Mumbai. People close to her say that she was very sad from inside for many days and had not been socializing. Something was bothering her. Her family blamed her fiance, businessman Gautam Khanduja for Nafisa's death because he lied to her about his divorce status. In reality he had told Nafisa he was divorced for last two years while they dated but when it was decided that they would marry in August 2004, it was revealed his divorce was not finalized and the papers were not yet completed. This meant a delay in Nafisa and Gautam's marriage. Nafisa was sad and felt betrayed perhaps and so she committed suicide.

Although a case was filed against Gautam but not much could be done about it because Gautam couldn't be held responsible for Nafisa's death directly. Media also said that there were problems between the two before her death due to his divorce issues. Nafisa blackmailed him that she would confront his wife while Gautam also blackmailed and threatened her.

Before Gautam, Nafisa also had affairs and engagements with Samir Soni and Sameer Malhotra that didn't survive. So he can't be blamed for such a reason for her death.

Unfortunately, such a bright and lovely girl whom the world admired killed herself in sad circumstances. It only leaves us to think that no matter how happy some people may look from the outside, it is not very easy to know what they are going through on the inside. People very conveniently pass judgements about people who commit suicide without understanding the suffering and pain.

Apparently, Nafisa is just one of the young and aspiring celebrities who was found dead in a shocking manner. Nafisa's friend and co-actor in C.A.T.S. Kuljeet Randhawa, also committed suicide in strange circumstances. She too hanged herself in her Juhu flat in 2006 leaving a suicide note saying that she is ending her life because she was unable to cope with the pressures of life.

Below you can see Kuljeet, I remember seeing her in C.A.T.S. but am quite shocked to know even she died so young.

Ranbir's Refusal Turns Out To Be Somebody Else's Gain

Now here's something interesting I found out. I never knew that the role the new guy from the movie Action Replayy - Aditya Roy is playing was first offered to Ranbir Kapoor. Ranbir Kapoor, however has reservatios about sharing screen space with Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar and so he refused this role.

Aditya Roy, on the other hand, has received a positive welcome from the audience so far in Action Replayy. He used to be a VJ earlier on. He is also playing a part in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzarish. Apparently in Guzaarish, Aishwarya is his confidante and sympathetic shoulder, while in Action Replayy Aish is playing his mother's role.

I feel the boy has a good start now. If he turns out to be a good actor, he might do well in the future. He is extremely thankful to Aish as he says he has been helping him tremendously on the sets with his acting although he is just a new entrant and it really means a lot to him. Aditya's elder brothers have been in TV and film making as well but he says acting is not a burning ambition for him. He, however, made his official acting debut in the movie London Dreams when he played a Pakistani band member in Ajay Devgan's rock band. 

Aditya also feels lucky that in his short film time, actors like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan were all helpful towards him. Which reminds me of how Rani ji is acting all superior to Vidya Balan in their upcoming movie in which they are playing sisters. It is strange to imagine how they act on the set and as soon as the scene ends they never talk to one another. People say it is Rani Mukherjee's unapproachable attitude that makes it difficult for Vidya Balan and so there is no conversation taking place. I think that movie will be completed soon with that sort of attitude :P

Dying young

Lucy Gordon left 2 suicide notes before hanging herself in the flat that she shared with her boyfriend in Paris. Gordon was 28 year old & she played the role of a reporter in Spider-Man 3. Her father said that the post-mortem has proved that she died from hanging herself.

Lucy Gordon’s suicide reminds me of Heath Ledger & Nafisa Joseph. Strangely Heath Ledger too was 28 year old at the time of his death. “He was found dead, face-down and naked at the foot of his bed in his rented SoHo apartment in Manhattan. There were prescription drugs, including sleeping pills, by his bed.” There have been speculations about suicide but no one is sure as to what killed him. His death was a huge loss. And we are all sorry for that. He had the potential to become a legend. He was one of the most talented artists.

I don’t know if people remember Nafisa. She used to be a VJ on MTV. Nafisa was the youngest participant in Miss Indian pageant in 1997. She hanged herself in her flat in Mumbia in 2004. This is what I’d like to share with you guys:

“She was to marry businessman Gautam Khanduja in a few weeks' time. According to her parents, Joseph took the step because her marriage was called off. This was due to Joseph having discovered that Khanduja was still married, although having told her he had been divorced for two years. When confronted, Khanduja refused to answer questions about his marital life or produce divorce papers that he had previously claimed he had filed. Instead, press reports at the time mention that he then threatened her with blackmail, probably after she threatened to confront his wife.

Joseph's parents filed a police report accusing her fiancé of abetting her death, claiming that Khanduja had been desperate to get out of the wedding for some time, and sought his custodial interrogation. In November 2005, the trial against Khanduja was stayed by the Bombay High Court until January 2006. The Supreme Court ordered that the case be put on a fast-track court, but as of March 2006, the case was yet to come up for hearing.

Khanduja claimed that there was no evidence to prove that breaking off the engagement had led to Joseph's suicide. He pointed out that Joseph's earlier engagements to Sameer Malhotra and Sameer Soni had also ended.

One year after Joseph's death, her friend and co-star in the television serial C.A.T.S, actress and model Kuljeet Randhawa also committed suicide while in her late 20s.”

Well something really terrible happens, when one thinks of taking his/her life. Hanging yourself seems like such a torture, but one who has been through a lot would do that. Taking pills when you can’t sleep at all & somehow you take so many that you end up dying sounds sad but it happens. In fact, Marilyn Monroe also comes in my mind. This lady’s death has always been shrouded in a mystery & how she was being used by big shots.

Such young & talented people put an end to their lives…This is bad news for all of us. We have been around & even ordinary people go on committing suicide…something is wrong somewhere. People don’t mind playing the role of bitches & assholes, & hurting others with their words & deeds as much as they can, but we never see anyone rescuing life. Life which is always taken for granted. Life which is too cheap for everyone.

You know if we could save one life, that would be more than enough. That would be 100 % success. Sometimes I do get carried away. However, I’m never sorry for that.