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.
