Cinema and Suicide

Shoba, Fatafat Jayalakshmi, Silk Smitha, Pratyusha, Monal, Divya Bharathi, Nafisa Joseph, Vaishnavi(TV host).... the list goes on. All these are actresses who committed suicide. They were young beautiful and earning a decent salary. So, what prompted them to take the extreme step. In the case of Shoba, Balu Mahendra donned the hat of the villain and a sour relationship led to the death of the actress whom I consider to be the greatest that Tamil cinema has ever seen. The small number of films that she acted are cherished by all lovers of Tamil cinema. SIlk Smitha's death under suspicious circumstances, is one case that was covered up. I find it hard to believe that a woman who had the entire industry eating out of her hand would take up her own life. She started with a semi-porn film called Layanam, which was directed by Thulaseedas, who later made some simple Malayalam comedies and made quite some money. A Telugu by birth Smitha, acted in all the Southern languages, was the real "Item Bomb" after Helen. She carried herself with grace and was a good dancer. Who killed her? No clue. In recent years the Monal suicide created a lot of furore. Monal was the sister of former queen bee of Tamil cinema Simran. Monal had acted in Badri and a couple of other movies. She was emotionally linked to the brother of a leading dance choreographer. Family interference and fear prompted her to hang herself to death. She was beautiful in an Oriental sort of a way, I do not know why, but she reminded me of Japanese women. Divya Bharathi's death is shrouded in mystery. If she would not have died, our "jhatke vali" Rambha(also titled "Queen of Thighs") by an overzealous generation of cinema-goers would never have made a name for herself. Today Rambha is out of business and relegated to playing second fiddle to Kala Bhavan Mani and dancing in skimpy costumes. Remember Rambha has acted with all the stars in Tamil cinema. Mani is a great actor, but Mani having Rambha as his heroine, well perhaps better than Captain dancing with Malavika. Nafisa Joseph, beauty queen, VJ, socialite... died because of a failed relationship. Her fiancee was already married and she took her own life in a fit of disappointment. The last year saw many TV artistes committing suicide. Notably Vaishnavi a cherubic girl, full of life and joy who hosted a variety of programmes on Sun TV. Her death came as a big shock and heralded the death of a couple of more artistes. In many cases it is parental pressure to earn more and more. Then it is the need to "oblige" every Tom, Dick and Harry, from producer to director, to hero to villain, to local politician to remain in circulation, that takes its toll on these young actresses. It is not confirmed but both Khushboo and Roja had attempted suicide. In Khushboo's case she found solace in Sundar C. who has given her a new lease of life and she is a happy woman now. In Hollywood Marilyn Monroe, was the example of Plain Jane to Queen of Hearts. Her turbulent relationships and suspicious death are fodder for many movies. Till date no one can say for sure "who killed her?" We have cases of young actresses fighting against their parents and trying to lead independent lives. Remember Bhanupriya, in recent years Meera Jasmine has faced a lot of problems for her parents, but she has taken all problems in her stride and is a successful actress appeasing both the arthouse critics and the commercial pundits alike. The last couple of weeks had news of aspiring starlet Preethi Sharma going against her parents and staying in Bombay. So what is the solution? There is no direct answer to this question. The actresses need to plan their lives and keep personal life away from professional life. Parents should not pressurise their daughters to earn more and more. Till then Suicide is a disturbing aspect that will keep raising its ugly head from time to time.