Some rumours vanish into thin air, but others may stay and cause unwarranted harm, and that is exactly what happened to actress Shilpa Shirodkar. Circa 1995, Shirodkar became the subject of a harrowing rumour—that she was shot dead on the set of Raghuveer—and though the digital age had not donned on the era yet, the news quickly reached her family, which prompted anxious calls.
In an interview with Pinkvilla, the Khuda Gawa actress recalled the scary incident. The then 21-year-old actress recalled being on the set of Raghuveer, which packed a stellar cast including Suniel Shetty, Suresh Oberoi, Prem Chopra, and Aruna Irani.
“I was in Kullu Manali. My dad was trying to call the hotel because we didn’t have mobile phones at that time. I was shooting with Suniel Shetty there. Everyone who was watching the shoot there kept thinking if this is Shilpa or someone else because they knew the news," Shirodkar said.
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Without a phone on her during the shoot, the actress returned to her room, and she was greeted with a host of missed calls from concerned family members. “When I came back to the room, there were around 20-25 missed calls. My parents were worried. There was a headline in a newspaper that Shilpa Shirodkar was shot dead."
So, what started the crude rumour? When the news blew out of proportion, the film’s producers clarified that it was a rogue marketing strategy. “When he told me, I was like ‘Okay’. Yes, thoda zyada hogaya (It was a bit too much). There was no PR activity or anything at that time. Kuch pata hi nahi tha na (I did not know anything). I was the last one to know that something like this was going to happen. No one used to take permission at that time. The film worked well, so I wasn’t really angry."
On the work front, Shirodkar will next be seen in a mythological thriller film Jatadhara. It will mark her return to the silver screens after several years.
