A Life, Lost And Found

From superstardom to coma to spirituality… Anu Aggarwal’s life has unfolded like a blockbuster film she has not acted in.

- Anjuly Mathai

You are a star,” said filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt to Anu Aggarwal, a young model in Mumbai, when he first met her.“In the galaxy?” Aggarwal joked.

A year later, he called her and offered her the role of Anu Varghese in his film Aashiqui. The film, he told Aggarwal, was based on her life. No other actor had the sensibility to play the role. Aggarwal initially resisted the offer— she felt the typical heroine of films those days was a bimbo who shook her “boobies and booty” for a couple of song-and-dance numbers—but she finally gave in to Bhatt’s insistence.

Aashiqui, which released in 1990, told the story of a young woman who runs away from an oppressive girl’s hostel and meets a man called rahul (played by Rahul Roy) who helps her find her feet and become independent. They fall in love but when Anu becomes a successful model, rahul feels threatened by her fame. When she accepts an offer to go to Paris with a film director, Rahul prevents her from boarding the flight. In the end, she decides to stay back and give their love a second chance.

The film became a blockbuster and propelled Aggarwal to stardom. The press turned her into a “sex bomb”, fans banged on her car when she stepped out, producers with clattering gold chains frantically sought her out. A few films like The Cloud Door and King Uncle followed, cementing her status as a rising star of Bollywood.