In 1996, south Indian cinema’s own Monroe, Silk Smitha, who had acted in over 400 films, hanged herself from the ceiling.In 1993, Divya Bharti, who began her career in a Telugu film, died at 19 by throwing herself from a window of her high-rise apartment in Mumbai.She could not come to terms with her much-married film-maker lover. In 1980, Shoba, a successful Indian National Award winning actress from Tamil cinema, committed suicide.In 1979, Kannada cinema’s leading actress Kalpana, described as the “shining star”, killed herself over “love failure”.The first widely reported suicide was in 1978 when a small-time Tamil cinema actress Fatafat Jayalakshmi hanged herself from the ceiling over an alleged failed romance.“The patriarchal indifference to the plight of women in the entertainment world is a formidable reason for collective distress among female actors,” says Theodore Baskaran, Tamil film historian. They might have had a happy ending with love on screen, but in reality many leading ladies in south Indian cinema have died heartbroken and of unrequited love. Since the late 1970s, nine female actors from the four language-cinemas of south India have killed themselves. While Bollywood has had its share of stars who have committed suicides, south Indian cinema has the ignominy of leading the way in sheer numbers. Khan’s mother told reporters her daughter had complained of a boyfriend’s broken promises in a suicide note. The 25-year-old Khan was found dead hanging from the ceiling on June 3 last year. On January 22, police filed a chargesheet in a Mumbai court naming an upcoming actor of abetting the suicide of starlet Jiah Khan. Reports said that shunned by plum offers, the young actor battled depression before taking his life.īattling depression comes hand in hand with stardom in India. The tabloids had a field day and Kiran got back on the road with a new wife but fewer films. The same could not be said of his real life when Kiran’s engagement with the daughter of an influential star from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh broke down. Guru Dutt is the only other male Indian star who had committed suicide, way back in 1964, due to heartbreak and depression with an overdose of alcohol and pills.įemale fans of Telugu and Tamil cinema still reminisce about the charm that Uday Kiran exuded on screen. He hanged himself from the ceiling at his posh home in the southern city of Hyderabad. Kiran, 33, a romantic heartthrob of Telugu cinema was found dead earlier this month.

Uday Kiran, actor from Telugu cinema of south India, ranks next to Bollywood stalwart Guru Dutt in the pages of Indian film history.

Actress jayalakshmi navel