Kabir Bedi has recently launched his autobiography, Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Journey of an Actor where he opened up about his professional and personal life. His memoir offers everything entertaining vignettes about his early life in Delhi, The time he hustled his way into interviewing The Beatles for All India Radio; what it was like growing up as the son of freedom fighters-turned-spiritual leaders; his early beginnings in advertising, and his abiding love for theatre and of course his love life where he talked got candid about his rocky relationships with first wife Protima and the late superstar Parveen Babi; coping with the untimely demise of his son who suffered from schizophrenia; bankruptcy and more.
She Used To See Spirits’, Kabir Bedi On Break-Up With Parveen Babi And Her Mental Illness
Accident, suicide, or murder? The mysterious and lonely death of Indian sensation Parveen Babi on Jan 22, 2005, left everyone in shock.
The life of the diva had a very tragic end as doctors said that she starved to death. As per the rumors, Babi suffered from paranoid schizophrenia which was due to her alcohol addiction. It also led to many failed relationships she had.
In the book, Kabir Bedi had shared his side of the story. Kabir in an interview shared some stories where he talked about why they broke up and how her mental illness began during her childhood when she would see spirits.
Kabir shared:
“The love that I felt for her was extraordinary and intense,” he said and added that it was “emotionally exhausting” to see her suffer “because of her mental problems”.
“Her problems could have begun in childhood because she used to see spirits in the monuments around her house, that were related to her family’s history — the Babi-Pashtun clan had served emperor Humayun at one point. There was an incident where Parveen had one of her disturbing episodes, her mother said to Mahesh Bhatt, ‘Her father used to be like that, so my question was ‘Could it be genetics that created that situation’?”
Parveen left India in the early 1980s, and returned a few years later. Kabir said that what ‘hurt’ him the most was that when she returned, ‘terrible things were written about (him)’, that he had ‘shattered her emotionally’, because of which she went ‘crazy’.
Ultimately, he said, “Parveen needed help and compassion.” There were times, especially when his career was taking off, that he wished he didn’t have to deal with these problems, but, he said, “I chose to be there, and I wanted to be there.”
Interview credit: Bollywood Hungama
Parveen Babi, who also dated Danny Denzongpa and Mahesh Bhatt, was found dead at the age of 55 in 2005 in her apartment.
Virtual Book Launch
Kabir Bedi launched his book recently, in the ‘virtual’ presence of actor Salman Khan, who said at the event, “Your personality as a star and human being is pure, so whatever comes out from this book would be straight from your heart and soul. It is going to be a beautiful read and I wish that a lot of people will learn from your experiences shared.”
Featured Image Source: India Times