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Parveen Babi dead
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, January 22
Popular Bollywood heroine of the late 1970s and early 1980s Parveen Babi was found dead at her suburban Juhu residence here today after a suspected drug overdose, the police said. She was nearly 50 and was living alone.

She was dead for at least two days, the police said. Her neighbours summoned the police after seeing newspapers and old milk bags left uncollected outside her doorstep.

The police broke open her door and found the former actress dead with old newspaper clippings beside her.

Her body was sent for post mortem and a search is on for her next of kin.
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Obituary
Parveen Babi transformed image of Indian actress

Mumbai, January 22
Parveen Babi, the actress who captured the bohemian essence of the 1970’s, was among the few to transform the image of an Indian actress on the big screen from the ethnic saree-clad woman to one who flaunted a westernised upbringing, blew smoke rings in the air, displaying a non-chalant attitude to life.

The Junagadh-born actress was first discovered by B.R. Ishara who cast her in the film “Charitra” in 1973. Though the film did not stand out, her looks did.

With her sophisticated demeanour and her ability to carry roles that cast her as the westernised female protagonist dancing to seductive number at a dance club (“Namak Halal”), as the sleek westernised woman in love with an orphaned boy (“Amar Akbar Anthony”) or as one romancing the beach in biknis, she managed to woo viewers to the cinema screen.

The actress whose Barbie doll image coupled with her seductive looks haunted viewers for years as she sashayed down the ramp, singing the seductive number “Raat Baki” or “Jawani Jane Man”. However, it was her battle with a mental sickness, her personal problems that saw her slipping from the picture of an ideal cover girl to a helpless actress in want of help. The film “Ardh Satya” which was reportedly based on her life also provided an insight to the actress.

Her persecution complex in the last stage of her life, her accusations against the super star and her complaint of being hounded by secret agents, provided visible signs of her much-talked sickness. — PTIBack
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