Jiah Khan Biography

In 1998, Jiah Khan appeared in an uncredited role of a younger Manisha Koirala in Mani Ratnam’s film Dil Se…

In 2004, at the age of 16, Jiah Khan was offered a role in Mukesh Bhatt's musical romantic drama film Tumsa Nahin Dekha and was all set to make her debut opposite actor Emraan Hashmi. However, she opted out later after both she and the director realised that she was too young to portray such a mature role. Actress Dia Mirza was, instead, roped in to play the role in the movie.

Jiah Khan finally debuted in 2007 with Ram Gopal Verma's drama film Nishabd wherein she starred opposite megastar Amitabh Bachchan. The film received mixed reviews, but her performance and confidence was appreciated by the critics. She also turned singer for one of the soundtracks – Take Lite – of the movie. For her work in the film, she received a nomination at the 2007 Filmfare Awards in the category of Best Female Debut.

In 2008, she was cast in the supporting role of Sunita, a medical student in A.R. Murugadoss's action thriller film Ghajini. The film starring Aamir Khan and Asin in the lead roles was a remake of a Murugadoss's 2005 Tamil film of the same name. The film went on to become a huge hit.

Her final film was Sajid Khan's 2010 comedy film Housefull wherein she played the role of Akshay Kumar's ex-wife Devika K. Samtani. The film had an ensemble cast and became the fifth highest grossing Bollywood film of the year. The same year, she was also supposed to appear in the dance film Chance Pe Dance opposite Shahid Kapoor; however, she was later replaced by Genelia D'Souza.

Jiah Khan was born as Nafisa Rizvi Khan on 20th February 1988 in New York City, United States to Ali Rizvi Khan and Rabiya Amin. Her father was an Indian American businessman while her mother was a Hindi film actress from 1980s. Her father left the family while she was very young and her mother raised her in Chelsea, London. Her mother later remarried Thomas Puppendahl. Her family includes two younger sisters Kavita and Karishma.

In 1995, at the age of six, Jiah Khan saw Bollywood actress Urmila Matondkar's film Rangeela and was so inspired that she decided to become an actress. She, later, joined the Lee Strasberg Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York to receive acting training; however left in between upon receiving a film offer.

She had a passion for singing and had received training in opera singing and piano playing. She had also learnt several different dance forms including belly dancing, salsa, lambada, jazz, reggae, samba and Kathak. She changed her name from Nafisa to Jiah after Angelina Jolie's 1998 movie Gia.

On 3rd June 2013, she was found dead at her residence in Mumbai. Her death was deemed suicide and the CBI re-confirmed her death as suicide after investigation. Her mother, Rabiya, however suspected foul play and accused Jiah’s boyfriend at the time, actor Sooraj Pancholi of murdering her daughter. In 2018, a Mumbai court charged Pancholi with abetting her suicide. The investigations in the case are ongoing.

In 2021, a three-part BBC two documentary series Death in Bollywood revolved around her tragic death. Earlier, an episode of television series Yeh Hai Aashiqui was loosely based on Jiah Khan's suicide.