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Sooraj’s mother, veteran actress Zarina Wahab, has opened up about her son’s emotional ordeal, and the events leading up to Jiah’s death.
Zarina Wahab recalls the emotional toll Sooraj faced after Jiah Khan’s death.
Sooraj Pancholi’s life changed forever on June 3, 2013, when actress Jiah Khan was found dead at her Juhu residence in Mumbai. The young actor, who was then prepping for his Bollywood debut, was accused of abetting Jiah’s suicide. A decade-long legal battle followed, ending in 2023 with a CBI Special Court acquitting Sooraj due to lack of evidence.
Now, Sooraj’s mother, veteran actress Zarina Wahab, has opened up about her son’s emotional ordeal, and the events leading up to Jiah’s death. In an interview with Nayandeep Rakshit, Zarina clarified that Sooraj and Jiah were not together at the time of her passing.
“I want to clear one thing that a lot of people think about Sooraj. When they (Jiah and Sooraj) were friends, Salman was launching him. Then I told him that Salman is going to launch you, (so) stop (this)! Then he went and told her, my parents don’t want us to meet and your mother also doesn’t want us to meet. So let’s break up. Then she said, ‘can I come and meet you sometimes?’ So he told her, ‘you can come and meet me as a friend but not as a girlfriend.’ The incident happened a month before their breakup. No one knows about this. In fact, she was going to South for a Telugu film around the same time in June. On the spot, she was rejected and she was very depressed.”
Zarina shared that Jiah tried reaching out to Sooraj on the day of her death. “She was so depressed that she was trying to call Sooraj. But his classes were going on because of some shooting. He couldn’t take her call, and when he later saw his phone, he texted her, ‘I’m free now, if you want to call me, call.’ But by then, she had already passed away. And now everyone says he did this, he did that… It’s so wrong. The poor girl was really sweet, but only God knows what truly happened with her.”
Zarina also revealed that Jiah was heartbroken after being rejected for a Telugu film that eventually cast Rakul Preet Singh. Sooraj had even sent her a bouquet when she told him she was trying her luck in the South. “Whatever happened, it wasn’t good, but people misunderstood. How many people can you go around explaining things to? But he (Sooraj) went through a lot,” she concluded.
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