Most of us dream of beauty and fame. We long to be actors and actresses on the big screen, with our names in lights. Most people do not realize that beauty and fame does not bring you happiness and contentment. Jiah Khan was a beautiful girl who seemed to have it all, and then she took her own life.

Jiah the child

 Jiah was born on February 20 of 1988. She was given the name Nafisa Khan at birth. Her family was of the Muslim faith. They lived in New York City when their daughter was born. Her father was an American citizen of Indian descent. His name was Ali Rizvi Khan. Her mother was Rabiya Amin. Rabiya was from Agra, Uttar Pradesh. During the 80s she had worked as a Hindi film actress.

When Jiah was a small child she moved to London where she spent the majority of her childhood. She trained to be an opera singer and before she turned seventeen she had already recorded several pot tracks. She studied her craft at the Lee Strassberg Theater and Film Institute located in Manhattan for a short period of time.

She once said that after she saw Ram Gopal Verma’s former protégé Urmila Matondar in the movie Rangeela she was inspired to go to Bollywood. Jiah was only six at the time that she saw this film.

Her Film Debut

Jiah was supposed to have her film debut when she turned 16. She was cast in the film Tumsa Nahin Dekha by Mukesh Bhatt. The director and the young actress both felt that the role was far too mature for her to portray and she backed out of the deal.

Jiah Khan is the name she chose to act under until 2012 when she changed her name back to Nafisa Khan. She would finally make her debut two years later at the age of 18. She was cast in the film Nishabad by Ram Gopal Verma.

A Tragic End to a Rising Star

On June 3^rd of 2013 Jiah Khan died by her own hands. Her mother and sister returned to the home they shared with the actress to discover that she had committed suicide by hanging. Her sister discovered the suicide note left by Jiah and the family has provided a copy of the note to the authorities investigating the matter.

It would appear; according to some that Jiah was distraught over a romantic relationship and ended her life. Others say that she ended her life because she was distraught over her career and where it was at this point in her life. No one will ever be certain of the reason why she decided that this was the course of action she should take because to commit suicide a person has to be mentally distraught to the point where their decision making process is not reliable. Our hearts go out to the friends and family that this lovely young lady left behind