I saw actor Kunal Singh hanging, says friend

Mystery surrounds the death of actor Kunal Singh. Was it suicide or an accident? The only clue to what happened at Singh’s Oshwara residence on Wednesday night has been provided by another actor, Laveena Bhatia, 23, say the police.

Bhatia, Singh’s friend, was freshening up in the bathroom when the incident took place. She called up her father at her residence, in Lokhandwala, who rushed to the scene. The watchman was informed and so were the police around 9 pm. In fact, Bhatia believes it was an act of suicide, said the police.

But senior police inspector Kiran Sonone is not so sure: “We have registered a case of suicide. While the motive is not yet known, we are investigating to find out details.”

Although details of what happened are still skimpy, Singh’s see-sawing career may have played a part in his ghastly end. In his hey day, Singh had acted in the Bollywood flick Dil Hi Dil Mein with actor Sonali Bhendre. He had also starred in the Tamil flick Parvai Ondre Podhume with Monal, who strangely committed suicide in 2002.

Singh’s stars were apparently on the decline in recent times, forcing him to take up behind-the-camera assignments as assistant editor, say people close to the actor. “In fact, he was finding it difficult to get a role as an actor,” says a friend.

“The police have reason to believe that a dress designer had arrived at Singh’s residence around 7.30 pm with a bag of clothes. We have also found out that an SMS had been sent by Singh to a script writer who was scheduled to visit him,” says a police official.

After the dress designer left Singh’s residence, Bhatia went to the bathroom to freshen up. According to Bhatia’s statement, she emerged from the bathroom and saw Singh hanging from the ceiling fan.

The actor’s family had left Mumbai last week. “A couple of days ago, Singh’s wife and two children had left for her father’s residence in Ahmednagar.”

Now, the police are trying to find out whether a marital discord, coupled with his failure to bag roles in Bollywood films, had made Singh depressed enough to end his life.