The Bollywood Stalker Universe: Posing as spouse, slitting wrist, morphing pictures

Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal are the latest B-Town celebs to have been pursued by a stalker. From obsessive fans coming up with marriage proposals to some even resorting to self-harm, several Bollywood stars have unfortunately had their fair share of stalkers.

Katrina’s history with stalkers: After Vicky Kaushal lodged a police complaint, subsequent investigation revealed that Katrina Kaif was being trolled online by an unemployed actor by the name of Manvinder Singh. Referring to himself as Kaif’s husband and even uploading morphed photos with her, he even moved to a lodge in Mumbai with the hopes of being closer to the actress. Singh was eventually arrested in Malad, Maharashtra. 

Back in 2010, Kaif was followed by a stalker for over nine months. Even though she didn’t file an official police complaint, Kaif revealed that the stalker pursued her at promotional events and even at her residence until her security guards had to intervene. 

Bipasha and Hrithik’s foreign fans: Bipasha Basu and Hrithik Roshan are some of the actors who have had to deal with obsessive fans even on foreign soil. Back when Basu was shooting for her English-language debut The Lovers in London in 2012, a British stalker pursued her whenever she went out shopping after shoots. 

As for Roshan, a female fan from Russia called Anna chased him all the way to his Juhu home and even his Andheri office. The stalking finally ended when Roshan lodged a police complaint. 

Raaj Kumar’s daughter posed as Shahid’s wife: The daughter of veteran Hindi actor Raaj Kumar was in the news for all the wrong reasons, due to her unhealthy fascination with Shahid Kapoor. A failed actress by profession, Vastavikta Pandit claimed that she met Kapoor back in one of Shiamak Davar’s dance classes and used to constantly trouble him by calling herself his biggest fan. 

Much like Manvinder Singh’s case with Katrina Kaif, she even introduced herself as his wife at times. Circling Kapoor’s home, sitting on his car’s bonnet, and living near wherever he stayed became quite common -- to the point that Kapoor filed a police complaint in 2012 citing mental harassment from Pandit. 

Stalker called up John Abraham’s parents: Celebrities often receive crank calls but in John Abraham’s case, it was not only him but also his parents who had to face this harassment.

The unnamed male fan constantly called him on his personal number with the action star finally going to Bandra police station to file a complaint in 2013. 

Dia Mirza’s stalker posed as a doctor: Actress Dia Mirza’s stalker posed as a doctor and entered her home. When he finally revealed his true self, he asked her hand for marriage while also offering her a ring and a bouquet of flowers.

Mirza rejected his advances but still didn’t file a complaint on the condition that the stalker would not bother her again. But the stalker didn’t change his ways, ultimately forcing Mirza to resort to going up to the authorities in 2009. 

Abhishek’s pre-marriage problems: Just a few days before his wedding to Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan encountered a female fan called Jhanvi Kapoor (not to be confused with the actor of the same name) who fancied the actor ever since she was a backup dancer on the movie Dus. Posing as his wife in 2007, she tried to force him into marriage and even slashed her wrists to draw more attention. Police interference was required to stop her from taking any more such steps. 

Interestingly, Kapoor went on to be a self-proclaimed godwoman and was even rumoured to join Bigg Boss at one time. 

A girl slashed her wrist for Akshay: Slitting wrists is a common attention-seeking tactic used by many stalkers. Akshay Kumar similarly had to deal with a fan in 2009, a then-underage girl who came all the way from Lucknow. Assembling along with hordes of fans outside Kumar’s home in Mumbai, she resorted to self-harm after the security guards rejected her request to meet the Khiladi star in person. 

After she slit her wrists, Kumar himself rushed her to a hospital in Juhu and then went on to have tea with her and called her parents from Lucknow. 

Suicide threats for Amitabh: Like almost all Bollywood stalker stories, this 2014 account also comes from Juhu, which houses Amitabh Bachchan’s residence Jalsa. An unnamed woman created a ruckus outside the gates of Jalsa, threatening to kill herself if Bachchan didn’t let her live in his house. 

 

She added that she was even willing to serve as his domestic help as long as that got her to live with her favourite actor. The situation was finally brought under control when the security personnel asked her to list her demands in a letter to the megastar. Police finally intervened and she was rehabilitated at a women’s hostel.