Tamil cinema has seen the rise and fall of many actors and actresses. Some of them were gone in the blink of the eye, while many made a lasting impression in the industry. However big or small, they all entertained us with their varied roles in cinema. Here we take a look at the actors who lost their lives due to various circumstances at a young age.
Sridevi
The Queen of Tamil, Telugu and Hindi cinema in the 1980s and 90s, Sridevi was a child artiste-turned heroine. She acted with almost all the top heroes in Kollywood and Bollywood. In 1997, she took a break from the film industry and after 15 years, she was back with English Vinglish, directed by debutante Gauri Shinde. She followed it up with Puli in Tamil, where she played Vijay’s villain. In 2017, she acted in the film titled Mom, which was a crime thriller. It was the 300th film. However, before she could complete her next venture, she passed away in Dubai due to accidental drowning.
Silk Smitha
The sexy siren of south India, Silk Smitha (Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati) will be known for several generations to come. That was the impact she had on the industry. She was known for her erotic roles and dance movies. She had worked in over 450 films over a period of 17 years. She also took up producing; however, it did not do her any good. She committed suicide in 1996. She was 35. Bollywood actress Vidya Balan did a biopic of her titled The Dirty Picture (2011).
Divya Bharti
Divya Bharti set the screen on fire in several Hindi and Telugu films. She had acted alongside Govinda and Rishi Kapoor in films like Shola Aur Shabnam and Deewana, respectively. She acted in over 14 Hindi films between 1992 and 1993. She won millions of hearts with her chirpy performances and sprightly innocence. She died on 5 April, 1993. She was just 19 years old. There were several speculations regarding her death. Reportedly, the actress fell to death from the fifth floor of her apartment in Mumbai.
Soundarya
A still from the movie Padayappa.
Soundarya who rose to fame with the movie Arunachalam died at the age of 31. Although her first movie was Gandharva in 1992, she became famous in Kollywood only through Arunachalam which had Rajinikanth play the male lead. The movie became the highest-grossing film of 1997 and her performance won her several movies. She also starred alongside Kamal Haasan and Prabhudeva in Kaathala Kaathala. Her other releases, Padayappa opposite Rajinikanth was also a success. Soundarya was killed in an aircraft crash on 17 April 2004. She was on her way to Karimnagar to campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party and Telugu Desam Party candidate for the upcoming elections.
Jiah Khan
Jiah Khan was a noted British-American actress. She starred in three films from 2007 to 2010. She made her film debut in the 2007 Ram Gopal Verma film Nishabd. She then went on to play the second lead in Hindi Ghajini opposite Amir Khan, which was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2008. Her final film appearance was in Sajid Khan’s romantic comedy Housefull. The actress was found hanging with a ceiling fan in her Mumbai apartment on 3 June 2013. Initially, it was suspected to be a suicide case, later Aditya Pancholi’s son Sooraj Pancholi was taken into police custody for ‘abetment of suicide’. Sooraj Pancholi was Jiah’s boyfriend.
Monal
Monal made her debut in Kollywood with Badri alongside Vijay. The sister of actress Simran, Monal has done some modelling, fashion shows, and beauty contests. She was reported by the media for throwing tantrums on the sets of her first film. She has also acted in Paarvai Ondre Podhume with Kunal. She appeared in a few more films, with most turning out to be moderate successes at the box office. At the time of the death, she was working on Dadagiri, a Telugu film which featured her opposite Suman and the film remained uncompleted. Monal committed suicide by hanging on 30 April 2002, aged just 20.
Viji
