Saturday, January 22 2005 19:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Glamorous heroine of the yesteryears Parveen Babi, who mesmerised thousands of Bollywood fans for two decades since early seventies with her splendid performances, was today (Jan 22, 2005) found dead at her Juhu residence. She was nearly 50.

Neighbours found newspapers and milk packets lying outside her flat since last two days and informed police which opened the house door with a duplicate key and found her body.

Police sources said they did not suspect foul play but said the cause of her death could not be immediately known.

Parveen had a history of mental sickness and remained confined to her house for most hours since last three years when she came from abroad after spending a decade there.

She belonged to the royal Nawab family of Junagad and did her schooling from Ahmedabad. Parveen was more known as a glamorous heroine than a serious actress. Parveen entered the Bollywood in 1973. Her first film was "Charitraheen" in the lead role with former cricketer Salim Durrani. Thereafter, she did not look back. She appeared in Sanjay Khan's film "Chandi Sona" and shot into limelight with her splendid performance in "Deewar" along with Amitabh Bachchan.

Parveen did a lot of films pairing with Amitabh in the lead role. These include "Kaalia", "Amar Akbar Anthony" and "Suhaag".

In the Bollywood circles, her name was associated with Mahesh Bhatt, Danny Denzongpa and Kabir Bedi who were her best friends although for brief periods.

After spending two decades in the film industry in Mumbai, Parveen developed mental sickness and often left the sets in a huff.

In early 1990s, she suddenly left for a foreign country where she spent a decade. The actress returned just three years ago and was beyond recognition as she had put on a lot of weight.

Parveen created quite a stir when she filed a petition in a local court charging foreign dignitaries and Amitabh Bachchan with attempting to kill her. However, her petition was dismissed by a city magistrate for want of evidence.

Parveen also filed an affidavit in a special court hearing the 1993 bomb blast case, saying she had evidence to throw light on the case. The court summoned her to appear with evidence but she did not appear saying she was afraid that people may kill her.

The actress stayed all alone in her terrace flat in suburban Juhu. In her leisure hours, she used to paint and also spent some time in interior decoration which was her hobby.