Sunday, January 30 2005 10:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: They both entered the make-belief world of films with dreams in their eyes and left it as recluses, sans a will but with controversies galore over both their life and property.

It was rude jolt that movie fans woke up on January 22 when the star of yesteryears Parveen Babi was found dead in her room by the police, who broke into her sprawling 2000 sq ft plus suburban Juhu house following a strong stench.

Babi's body found in a slightly decomposed state revealed a sad truth of a once-famous cover girl of 'Time' magazine lying dead in her room, with no one beside her.

The death also rang a familiar bell as numerous claimants from 'close friends', 'hair dressers', 'ex-boyfriends', 'well wishers', 'Christian priests' to distant and close relatives rushed in to claim Babi's body.

The body of the recluse, who had kept all at bay earlier and had trusted practically no one, was fought over by various claimants, who staked their right to give her last rites.

However, it was after production of some evidence that Babi's niece was allowed to bury her.

The incident brought back poignant memory of the death of yet another recluse, the singing star of the olden era, Suraiyya, who left without a will, the Babi way.

Few hours after Suraiyya's death, the landlord of her Marine Drive flat, her house for 71 years, put up a legal notice claiming the flat, followed by Suraiyya's lawyer D Thakkar staking claim.

The controversy thickened as Thakkar's daughter Amee Shah said the singer had adopted her and gifted the property to her.