Parveen Babi Age, Death, Height, Boyfriend, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Parveen Babi

• Did Parveen Babi smoke?: Yes 

• Did Parveen Babi drink alcohol? Yes ^[20]Times of India

• She was born in the family of the Pathans of Gujarat who were the Nawabs of Junagarh and belonged to Babi tribe of Pashtuns.

• She was born after 14 years of her parents’ marriage and was the only child of her parents.

• While she was in college, she started working as a model. She was spotted by a director, B. R. Ishara, while she was studying at Ahmedabad University. He got impressed by her westernised image and appealing looks and offered her to act in the Bollywood film, ‘Charitra’ in 1973.
  

  Parveen Babi’s Old Picture

• She has acted in various Hindi films, including ‘Deewaar’ (1975), ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ (1977), ‘Suhaag’ (1979), ‘Kaala Patthar’ (1979), ‘Shaan’ (1980), ‘Kranti’ (1981), ‘Namak Halaal’ (1982), ‘Bond 303’ (1985), and ‘Avinash’ (1986).
  

• She had acted in thirteen movies with the legendary Bollywood actor, Amitabh Bachchan and starred opposite to him in eight movies.
  

• Some of her popular Hindi film songs are “Teri jheel se gehri aankhon mein” from ‘Dhuen Ki Lakeer’ (1974), “Humko tumse ho gaaya hai pyaar” from ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ (1977), “Jawani jaaneman haseen dilruba” & “Raat baki baat baki” from ‘Namak Halaal’ (1982), and “Angrezi mein kehte hai ke I love you” ‘Khuddaar’ (1982).

• Reportedly, when the news of Amitabh dating Parveen came in the eyes of media, Amitabh left her to avoid any sort of troubles in his married life. In an interview, Parveen said,

Amitabh Bachchan is a super international gangster. He is after my life. His goons kidnapped me and I was kept on an island where they performed a surgery on me and planted a transmitter or chip right under my ear.

• She filed a case in the court against Amitabh, but her case was rejected as she was detected with Schizophrenia, a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. ^[21]Tribune

• After she parted with Amitabh, she started dating the Bollywood actor, Danny Denzongpa in the 70s. The couple dated for almost four years, and even after their breakup they shared a cordial relationship. In an interview, Danny Denzongpa talked about his relationship with Parveen, he said,

We were two young kids and we lived together for four years. That was big news those days. We had a wonderful time, but later we grew apart and parted on a good note. We remained friends.”

Parveen Babi and Danny Denzongpa

• Parveen used to live in the same building as Danny and even after their breakup, she used to visit Danny’s house. Danny shared an incident of Parveen in an interview, he said,

Parveen would keep inviting me for dinner. I had a new girlfriend (actor Kim) those days. She was wary of Parveen. Also, if your ex walks into the house anytime like a mother hen, it would be difficult for any girl to accept. I would pick up Kim from the sets after pack up and reach home only to find Parveen in my bedroom, watching a movie on the VCR. I asked Parveen not to do it. But she’d say, ‘We don’t have anything between us, we are friends.”

• Danny shared in an interview that he started feeling something abnormal in Parveen’s, he said,

I remember the first time I noticed something abnormal about Parveen. I had been for dinner at her place. There were silver conches on the table. When I began blowing one, she got frightened. That’s when Mahesh said, ‘She gets easily frightened these days and is turning into a recluse’. A few days later Mahesh confided again “Parveen’s unwell. She cares for you and you must come over and give her support. Whenever Parveen needed me, I was always there.”

• Later, Parveen cut off all the ties with Danny after an incident. In an interview, Danny shared that incident, he said,

One day she happened to read an interview, where Amitji had mentioned that I was a good friend of his. That was it. When I went to meet her the next time, she looked at me through the keyhole and refused to let me in, calling me his agent. She was frightened of me too.”

• After her breakup with Danny, she started dating another Bollywood actor, Kabir Bedi. They dated for a few months, but due to their professional commitments, they parted their ways in 1977. In an interview, Parveen talked about Kabir, she said,

He’s getting opportunities in the West and I don’t expect him to kick them down for my sake. I set him free since this is the time when he has to make the best of his career without any hassles. It’s not sacrifice on my part, I am not a martyr, it’s just more resignation to a situation I can’t control.”

Pictures of Kabir Bedi and Parveen Babi

• After her few breakups, she was getting depressed and was also diagnosed with the symptoms of Paranoid Schizophrenia.
  

  An Old Picture of Parveen Babi

• Post her breakup with Kabir Bedi, she met the famous Bollywood director, Mahesh Bhatt. Parveen and Mahesh Bhatt’s love story is one of the famous love stories in Bollywood.

• Even though Mahesh was married and had one daughter at that time, he fell in love with Parveen.

• Soon, he started observing weird behaviour of Parveen which was due to Schizophrenia. In an interview, he said,

Once she threw open the door of the moving car, saying the bomb would burst and ran out on the road with me trying to hold her. People thought ‘Parveen Babi’ was having a fight with her boyfriend. Somehow, I huddled her into a taxi and brought her home.” ^[22]India.com

• Mahesh shared an incident of Parveen, he said in an interview,

In 1979, Parveen was dressed in film costume and sat curled up in the corner between the wall and the bed. Her gait was beast-like. She had a kitchen knife in her hand. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked. She said, ‘Shhsssh…! Don’t talk! This room is bugged (installed with a spying device). They’re trying to kill me; they’re going to drop a chandelier on me.’ She held my hand and led me outside. I saw her mother look helplessly at me. Her gaze revealed that this episode had happened before; it was not the first time.”

• Parveen’s weird behaviour continued, and Mahesh decided to take her to one of his spiritual gurus, U. G. Krishnamurti in Bengaluru.

• In October 1979, he left Parveen with his spiritual guru for her treatment and returned to Mumbai to sort out his married life.

• In 1979, Parveen returned to Mahesh in Mumbai. In an interview, Mahesh shared an incident after which he broke up with Parveen in 1980, he said,

Parveen knew I was in touch with UG, who was against her returning to films. He was the voice of sanity, which she didn’t want to hear. So she played the last card,” as they were about to make love, she asked him to choose between her or the philosopher. ^[23]India Today

• As per some sources, she was in a relationship with Abdul Ella, a businessman whom she met through her spiritual guru U. G. Krishnamurthy.
  

  U. G. Krishnamurti With Parveen Babi

• In 1982, Mahesh Bhatt directed a film based on Parveen’s life, ‘Arth.’

• A semi-autobiographical film, ‘Woh Lamhe’ was written and produced by Mahesh Bhatt in 2006.
  

  Woh Lamhe

• She was featured on the cover of the US magazine, Time; as the face of the modern Indian woman in 1977.
  

  Parveen Babi Featured at Time Magazine’s Cover

• She was also featured on the cover of various Indian magazines.
  

  Parveen Babi Featured on a Magazine Cover

• She went on a spiritual trip with U. G. Krishnamurti and her friend, Valentine on 30 July 1983.

• She wrote her autobiography in 1984 and left the manuscript with U. G., but it was never published.

• She had put a lot of weight in 1989, her secretary, Ved Sharma’s son, shared a few incidents of his meeting with Parveen Babi. In an interview he said,

She had a homely side too. At home she’d be simply dressed in jeans. She’d attend our birthday parties. She’d give us an envelope (of cash) so that we could buy whatever we wished. For groceries and essentials, she’d slip the money through the door and collect the milk and eggs once the man had left.” Once she had stepped out to buy something when a bus passed close to her near the Hare Rama Hare Krishna temple in Juhu. She believed that someone had sent the bus to kill her.”

Parveen Babi After Gaining Weight

• She used to believe that everyone is planning to kill her. Her secretary, Ved Sharma’s son, Lalit said,

She didn’t trust the doctors. Anyone who suggested she should see a psychiatrist became her enemy, even her mother!” “She even believed that the January 26, 2001 earthquake in Kutch was planned because she had a water tank on the terrace and ‘they’ wanted to kill her by crushing it. If her car didn’t work, she’d believe that someone had deliberately tampered with it. Once I went to her kitchen to keep my plate, I was appalled at the filth and stink. For someone who was once a cleanliness freak, this was shocking. Her beautiful terrace flat was a mess. It had heaps and heaps of newspapers which were categorised in sections like politics, health, entertainment etc.”

• She had stopped eating food and use to eat only egg white; as she used to believe that cooked food is poisoned. Even when the reporters used to visit her, she would ask them to eat her food and drink her water; as she had a doubt that her food and water was poisoned.
  

  A Black and White Photo of Parveen Babi

• Her mental health was so deteriorated that she assigned her property shares to her dead relatives in the will.

• Her looks were often compared to veteran Bollywood actress, Zeenat Aman.
  

  Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman

• She used to record every phone call and whatever she talked in the last four years of her life. A few collections of her notepads are kept in the office of the State Administrator General of the Government of Maharashtra.

• In her last Christmas party, she hosted a Christmas dinner at her Juhu flat and one of her guests was Reverend Avinash Rangayya (the pastor of All Saints Anglican Church, Church of North India at Malabar Hill).

• In an interview in 1998, she talked about converting to Christianity, she said,

I was born a Muslim and later, I converted to Christianity. But I have never done things I didn’t believe. Even when I was a Muslim, I didn’t understand why it made me a more spiritual entity, if I did not eat pork. I always felt that the essence of spirituality lies in being a good human and following good, positive principles. The Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant at the Taj, those days, was quite famous for pork delicacies and every time I got a break from shooting, I would rush off to the Golden Dragon. Whenever my friends questioned me about my eating pork, I would say that it was more important for me to be a human being than a racist.”

• While talking to a reporter in 1988, she said,

Today, the majority of the industry has cut ties with me because of one man… Anyway, I don’t feel let down. On the contrary, I feel it’s their loss. The film industry is wonderful in the beginning, when you are in your youth. But then, it doesn’t let you grow in any other direction. The reason I didn’t attempt to make a comeback in the industry, is firstly because this man is still there and secondly, over the years, I have discov­ered a whole new world outside. Writing, philosophy, painting, organized thinking, great and classic litera­ture… There is just one life and so much to achieve.”

• She was the 2nd highest-paid actress during 1976 and 1980 and the 3rd highest-paid actress during 1981 and 1983.
  

  A Picture of Parveen Babi

• On 22 January 2005, her neighbours noticed that for two days, she had not collected newspapers and milk bottles from her doorstep. After the police entered her flat, they found that her body was lying on the bed and a wheel-chair was lying beside her. Also, some old newspapers, medicines, and alcohol bottles were there and spread like a mess on the floor.

• It was found that she had gangrene on her left foot because of her diabetic condition, and due to which, she might be not able to walk properly. As per the report by Cooper Hospital, there were no traces of food in her stomach, but some alcohol was found in her body. They also mentioned that it might be possible that she had not consumed food for more than three days, and as a consequence, starved to death.

• Her last desire was to perform her last rites according to Christian rituals. But her relatives, who claimed her body, performed the Islamic rites, and her body was buried at Juhu Muslim cemetery in Santacruz, Mumbai along with other Bollywood celebrities, such as Mohammed Rafi, Madhubala, Sahir Ludhianvi, Talat Mahmood, and Naushad Ali. Due to lack of space, their graves were relocated after five years.

• Mahesh Bhatt also claimed her body, he said,

I thought if none of her relatives came forward I’d bury her.”

• On her demise, Amitabh Bachchan said,

She brought in a new, bohemian kind of leading lady to the screen. We’d work on all these films and go our own way. But because we belonged to the same social circle we’d visit each other and listen to music. She was a very fun loving, light-hearted person. Always full of joie de vivre!”

• Parveen’s nephew, Javed Ahmed Noor Ahmed Shaikh who claimed to be her adopted son, appeared in the court and claimed her property. Ultimately, 80% of her total wealth was given to underprivileged children and women who belong to the Babi community of Junagadh and 20% of the wealth was given to her maternal uncle. ^[24]India Today

• A film was released on her life in 2007 with the title, ‘Parveen Bobby.’

• The popular Indian fashion designer, Manish Malhotra praised her dressing sense, he said,

Parveen Babi brought minimalism into fashion. She was always impeccable, not overdoing it even once.”

• Here is the video describing the journey of her life.