26 Facts About Jiah Khan

Nafisa Rizvi Khan, better known as Jiah Khan, was a British-Indian actress and singer who worked in Hindi cinema.

Jiah Khan appeared in three Bollywood films from 2007 to 2010.

Jiah Khan made her film debut in the 2007 Ram Gopal Verma film Nishabd for which she was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Jiah Khan was later noted for portraying the supporting role of a modern, independent woman in Ghajini, which was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2008.

Nafisa Jiah Khan was born on 20 February 1988 in New York City, United States, to Ali Rizvi Jiah Khan, an American businessman, and Rabiya Amin, a Hindi film actress in the 1980s from Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

Jiah Khan's father left the family when she was 2 years old.

Jiah Khan grew up in London where she completed her Edexcel O level and A level with five As, before moving to Mumbai to pursue a career in Bollywood.

Jiah Khan was inspired to enter Bollywood after watching Ram Gopal Verma's former protege Urmila Matondkar's movie Rangeela at the age of six.

Jiah Khan studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Manhattan, and she quit upon receiving a movie offer.

Jiah Khan learned various dance forms, including belly dancing, kathak, lambada, jazz, samba and reggae.

In 2004, at the age of 16, Jiah Khan was signed to act in Mukesh Bhatt's Tumsa Nahin Dekha but backed out when both she and the director felt the role was too mature for her; she was immediately replaced by Dia Mirza.

Three years later, in 2007, at the age of 18, Jiah Khan made her debut in Ram Gopal Verma's controversial romantic thriller Nishabd as Jia where she acted opposite Amitabh Bachchan.

Jiah Khan was nominated for a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, however lost to Deepika Padukone for Om Shanti Om.

Jiah Khan played Sunita, a medical student who investigates the history of Sanjay Singhania, portrayed by Aamir Khan.

Jiah Khan's performance attracted mixed reviews, with critics agreeing that her role was "sketchy".

In 2010, Jiah Khan had almost completed the shooting of the dance film Chance Pe Dance opposite Shahid Kapoor when the director Ken Ghosh asked her to leave the film, and she was replaced by Genelia D'Souza.

However, after the release of the film, Jiah Khan said that she was asked to leave because the director had a bad eye on her.

Kapoor said that he had no hand in the replacement of Jiah Khan, and got to know about the replacement when D'Souza came on the set for shooting.

However, the film was a box office flop and Jiah Khan said that she was happy for leaving the film.

Jiah Khan had signed a few movies including Udhas Singh's Aap Ka Saaya, in which she was supposed to play Ranbir Kapoor's wife.

Jiah Khan reportedly died after hanging herself somewhere between 11:00 pm and 11:30 pm on 3 June 2013 at her residence in Juhu, Mumbai.

Jiah Khan's body was then brought back to her residence around 7:00 am on Wednesday following the post-mortem.

The note reportedly indicates that Jiah Khan planned to end her life.

On 8 June 2013, Jiah Khan's memorial was held at Vile Parle Medical Club to pray for Jiah Khan and her family.

Pancholi, who lived with Jiah Khan, was taken into police custody during the investigation of her suicide on 10 June 2013.

In 2024, Sooraj's mother Zarina claimed that Jiah Khan attempted suicide 4 times before she met her son.