Nilam Bharadwaj, Mishap nips actor in the bud

Mishap nips actor in the bud

Auto she was travelling in gets hit by a Honda City in Juhu; car driver tells a different story; CCTV footage to clear air

An 18-year-old girl, a small-time actor, died after a Honda City hit the autorickshaw she was travelling in at Juhu Circle on Friday. Nilam Bharadwaj was taken to Cooper Hospital but she had died by then. She has worked in the TV serial Mata Ki Chowki. She is the daughter of former personal secretary of a senior BJP leader. The police arrested the car driver, Purvesh Ramchandra Patkar, 25, a resident of Malad (West). Patkar works in a bank and was going towards Malad. The police said the girl was from Bhopal and had come to Mumbai three years ago and was working in the film Industry. Bharadwaj stayed as paying guest at Shashtri Nagar, Lokhandwala area in Andheri (West). Around 7.30am, Bharadwaj was going to Juhu to meet her sister-in-law, Preeti. A senior pilot, Preeti came to Mumbai a few days ago and was staying in a hotel in Juhu. “Bharadwaj was going towards Juhu in an autorickshaw. When it reached Juhu Circle, a speeding Honda city rammed into the auto,” said Jatin Bhatia, Bharadwaj’s cousin. Bharadwaj was thrown out of the auto. The car driver tried to run away but passersby nabbed him. The auto driver was not injured and he fled the spot. Bharadwaj was taken to Cooper Hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. Bharadwaj’s family from Bhopal will reach Mumbai on Friday night. “We arrested the car driver for causing death due to rash and negligence driving.  Patkar’s report says he was not drunk,” said Vijay Bhoite, senior police inspector of DN Nagar police station. “We will check the CCTV footage,” he added. Patkar told the police that the car was his friend’s. “I was returning from Seven Bungalaws. When I was taking a left turn from Juhu Circle, a Xylo came in front of me and my car hit a lamp post,” he said. “I don’t know how the auto accident happened.”

Friends mourn girl’s death

The death of a budding actor, Nilam Bharadwaj, 18, has shocked her friends and colleagues. Known as Niral among her friends and the film industry, Bharadwaj has worked in two serials, Mata ki Chowki and Shani Dev. She came to Mumbai four years ago to make her career in acting. She was staying in Shashtri Nagar, Lokhanwala, as paying guest with her room mate Neha Pawar, 22, also a small-time actor. Pawar said she had lost a close friend. “I had been staying with her for the past one and a half years. She used to share everything with me,” she said. “She took good care of me. She respected me like I was her elder sister.” Passersby called up Kamlesh Patidar, 32, from Bharadwaj’s phone. A photographer in the film industry, Patidar said he informed other friends and her cousin and rushed to the hospital. “She scored 89% in her class XII exam. She was doing her degree from correspondence course and used to go to Bhopal to give her exam,” said Patidar. “I too am from Bhopal and she called me ‘Papa’. So the people who took her to hospital phoned me first,” he added.