Veteran Bollywood actress Parveen Babi's life has been nothing short of a film in itself. April 4 marks her 69th birth anniversary of the 'Deewar' actress.
From being one of the highest-paid and most popular actresses of her time to being diagnosed with schizophrenia, Parveen Babi's life has been a tumultuous rollercoaster ride.
Reportedly, at one point, she had even accused megastar Amitabh Bachchan, as well as Prince Charles and others of trying to kill her.
At the peak of her career in 1983, Parveen Babi mysteriously vanished from showbiz. Later, it was reported that she had taken off on a 'spiritual journey'. When she returned to Mumbai in 1989, reports claimed that the actress was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
However, she denied the reports and stated that she was being labelled schizophrenic as a conspiracy by film industry and media to malign her image.
She then went on to accuse Amitabh Bachchan, Bill Clinton, Robert Redford, Prince Charles, Al Gore, US government, British government, French government, BJP government, Roman Catholic Church, the CIA, CBI, KGB and Mossad of conspiring to kill her, but her petition was dismissed by the court due to the lack of evidence.
The evidence she presented turned to be just scribblings on a notepad.
She had even called Amitabh Bachchan a 'super international gangster' and claimed that he had sent goons to kidnap her and she was kept on an island. She had also pointed at a scar below her ear and had said that the goons had performed a surgery on her on the island and had planted a chip right under her ear.
Parveen Babi was found dead at her Mumbai residence in January 2005 after her neighbours noticed that she had not collected the newspaper and groceries from her door for a long time. She was found to have a gangrene on her left foot, a complication of her diabetic condition. Post-mortem reports also stated that no traces of food were found in her stomach, suggesting that she had probably died of starvation.
Parveen Babi marked her debut with the 1973 film 'Charitra' and became an overnight sensation. She went on to deliver back-to-back hits over the years with 'Deewaar' (1975), 'Amar Akbar Anthony' (1977), 'Suhaag' (1979), 'Kaala Patthar' (1979), 'The Burning Train' (1980), 'Shaan' (1980), 'Kaalia' (1981), and 'Namak Halaal' (1982) among others.
