8 minutes agoAuthor: Ifat Quraishi
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Everyone must have heard of the 1988 cult classic film Veerana at some point or another. This horror film was in discussion due to the beauty and boldness of the lead actress Jasmine Dhunna. Jasmine with beautiful black eyes like a doll had grabbed people’s attention by playing the role of a ghost in the film, but this beauty itself led to her anonymity and many questions. It is said that the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim also wanted to get Jasmine after being charmed by her beauty. Jasmine was receiving constant threatening calls from the underworld and suddenly went missing during this time. No one has seen him for 35 years. There is no concrete news yet about his whereabouts and condition. Sometimes it was said that she was abducted by the underworld, sometimes it was said that she was living an anonymous life to save her life.
Today in Ansu’s Dastan, know the story of Jasmine Dhunna’s stardom and disappearance-
Jasmine Dhunna was born in the year 1968 in Mumbai. Born in a middle-class family, Jasmine was the only child of her parents. Raised with great pride, Jasmin was fond of watching movies and acting since childhood. This was the reason why Jasmine always participated in plays and dances whenever there was any cultural program in school. Jasmin, who looked very beautiful in appearance, attracted everyone’s attention when she acted on stage.
Got the first film at the age of 11
It is 1979. Jasmine was acting in a program at her school. The famous writer, director and producer of that time N.D. Kothari also participated in the program. As soon as Jasmine started acting, N.D. Kothari kept looking at him. n.d. Kothari liked the acting of just 11-year-old Jasmin so much that he offered her a film as soon as the play was over.
Jasmine was young, so n.d. Kothari spoke to his parents and explained to them. The name of the film was ‘Sarkari Mehman’. 22-year-old senior Vinod Khanna was signed along with 11-year-old Jasmine in the film. Vinod Khanna was the star of the era, while Jasmine was a simple school going girl.
Without any professional acting training, Jasmin gave an example of her best acting during the shooting of the film, which left everyone in awe. In this film, she played the role of a bubbly village girl named Bindia. The songs ‘Paracha Mohabbat Ka’ and ‘Sun Sun Re Sarkari Mehman’ were very popular songs from this film.
The first film flopped, the family gave up acting
The film ‘Sarkari Mehman’ released on January 12, 1979 brought Jasmine definite recognition, but the film flopped badly at the box office. After the first flop, Jasmine’s family stopped her from acting in films. The family wanted Jasmine to complete her studies first.
Along with studies, acting also started
Jasmine took her family’s advice and started focusing on her studies, leaving her dream unfulfilled. Jasmine could not keep herself away from the world of glamor for long. Only a few years passed, when Jasmine again proposed to her parents to go to the movies. When her family stopped her citing her young age, Jasmine started modeling along with studying. During her college days, Jasmine started getting big modeling projects.
Got another film in between modeling
While Jasmine was making a name for herself in modeling, one day she was approached by N.D. Kothari got a call. The same n.d. Kothari, who starred Jasmin in the film ‘Sarkari Mehman’. At that time he was making the film ‘Divorce’, for which he was looking for a beautiful girl. When he found out that Jasmine was modeling and wanted to get back into films, he immediately approached and signed her in his film.
This time Jasmine shared the screen with veteran actors like Vijayendra Ghatge, Sharmila Tagore, Bindu, Jagdeep, Keshto Mukherjee in the film ‘Divorce’. Her pairing with Vijayendra Ghatge was highly praised, although the film, released in 1984, also turned out to be a flop at the box office. Jasmine’s films were certainly flops, but the talk of her beauty grew with each film.
Jasmine Dhunna became an overnight star with Ramsay Brothers’ Veerana
Ramsey brothers who made excellent films like ‘Do Gaj Zameen Ke Nadi’, ‘Andhera’, ‘Tahkhana’, ‘Guesthouse’, ‘Puraan Mandir’ had a distinct identity in the industry for their horror films. He often made B or C grade films, classified as adult horror films.
After gaining popularity with about 17 horror films, Ramsey brothers were preparing to make the film ‘Veeraana’. In almost all his films, boys acted as ghosts, but in this film he wanted to show the story of a girl, who lures boys and then kills them.
Ramsay Brothers to do bold scenes Jasmine had chosen
Ramsay Brothers was looking for a beautiful girl for the role of the film ‘Veerena’. Meanwhile, Jasmin Dhunna’s pictures were sent to him by an informant.
Jasmin’s pictures were so beautiful that Ramsay Brothers team called her for a meeting. Along with narrating the script of the film, the team also told him that as per the demand of the script, he will have to give some bold scenes in the film.
Waiting for a big film, Jasmin immediately agreed to do a bold scene in the film. Ramsay Brothers started shooting the film in 1985 itself. Along with Jasmine, Hemant Birje, Vijayendra Ghatge, Gulshan Grover, Satish Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda were in important roles in the film.
Due to boldness, the film ‘Veerana’ could not be released for 8 months
The film ‘Veerana’, made in 1985, was completed by 1987. Till then, most of the Ramsey brothers’ films had escaped the notice of the Censor Board, but when ‘Veerana’ was made, the Censor Board had a strict eye on it. The film had bolder scenes than Ramsey Brothers’ previous bold horror films, which was opposed by the Censor Board.
The censor board made 46 cuts in the film
The biggest objection to the censor board was the scene, in which Gulshan Grover was watching Jasmine take a bath through a doorway. Similarly, the board also objected to 46 different bold and violent scenes in the film. The makers were told that they would be able to get permission to release the film only if they revised the 46 views of the film. Ramsay Brothers re-edited the film and ‘Veerana’ was released in 1988 after a delay of almost 8 months, that too after 46 major changes.
Released on May 6, 1988, Veerana was a huge hit and Jasmine Dhunna became an overnight star with the film. While some people watched the film for the horror, there was a large segment who watched the film for Jasmine’s bold avatar depicted in the poster. As a result, the film earned more than 10 times its cost. Along with the film and Jasmine, the Ramsay Brothers also became known in mainstream cinema.
As soon as the film ‘Veeraana’ became a hit, Jasmine started getting offers for many big films. Jasmin signed many films. It is said that because of Jasmin’s beauty at that time, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was adamant about keeping her with him. This was the time when the film industry was dominated by the underworld. Many heroines were retained or removed from films at Don’s behest, while it was also common to give the profits of the films to the underworld and invest their money in the films.
Meanwhile, there were reports that Dawood Ibrahim is constantly threatening Jasmin. The threats stated that Jasmine’s life could be in danger if she did not meet him.
Suddenly disappeared, no news for years
According to some media reports published at the time, troubled by Dawood Ibrahim’s threats, Jasmin even lodged a complaint with the Mumbai police, but the underworld was so dominant at that time that even the police could not help Jasmin.
Amid Dawood Ibrahim’s threats, Jasmin Dhunna suddenly disappeared from the public eye. He left all the films he had signed. A number of different theories emerged as to why Jasmine had suddenly disappeared.
First theory- Jasmin has been kidnapped by Dawood Ibrahim’s men.
Another theory- Fearing Dawood Ibrahim, Jasmin left India and chose a life of anonymity.
Third theory- She married a man living in Jordan and settled there.
While on the one hand there were many different stories about Jasmin’s disappearance, on the other hand a report by ABP News quoting her family has claimed that some people have linked her name with Dawood Ibrahim to ruin Jasmin’s career. That is because the director does not cast him in the film.
Even after years the mystery remains unsolved, after 31 years the news came
All kinds of theories surfaced, but there was no concrete news about Jasmine Dhunna, who was last seen in the 1988 film Veerana. With time people forgot Jasmine. After remaining anonymous for 31 years, Jasmine came into the limelight in 2017, when Shyam Ramsey, who produced the film Veerana with her, told Hindustan Times in an interview that Jasmine was alive.
According to Shyam Ramsey’s statement, ‘Jasmin was very close to her mother. When her mother started to fall ill, Jasmine left the film world to take responsibility for her mother. When her mother died, Jasmine became withdrawn from people in shock. He also said that Jasmine lives in Mumbai.’
People have mentioned, but not given concrete information
Actor Hemant Birje, who was seen in the film ‘Veerana’ a few years ago, mentioned Jasmine in an interview given to Bollywood Thikana. When asked about Jasmin, he said, ‘Jasmin is alive and her house is in Mumbai’s Versova area.’ He also claimed that he is in touch with Jasmine. Jasmin lives abroad and sometimes comes to India. However he also said that he has never met Jasmine.
Appearing in only three films, Jasmine has been out of the public eye for 35 years, but there is no concrete information about her, nor has she been seen anywhere.