Shilpa Shirodkar known for her roles in films like Gopi Kishan and Aankhen, recently opened up about a bizarre and traumatic chapter from her past, the time a newspaper falsely reported her death during the shoot of her 1995 film Raghuveer. In a candid chat with Pinkvilla, the actress recalled how a fabricated headline claiming she had been “shot dead” on set caused widespread panic among her loved ones.

Shilpa was shooting with Suniel Shetty in Kullu Manali when the rumour erupted. “I was in Kullu Manali. My dad was trying to call the hotel because we didn’t have mobile phones at that time. I was shooting with Suniel Shetty there. Everyone who was watching the shoot there kept thinking if this is Shilpa or someone else because they knew the news,” she recalled.

The situation escalated when Shilpa returned to her room, only to find dozens of missed calls from friends and family. “When I came back to the room, there were around 20-25 missed calls. My parents were worried, there was a headline in a newspaper that Shilpa Shirodkar was shot dead,” she shared.

It was only later that the truth came out, the entire incident was an outrageous publicity stunt cooked up by the film’s producer and Shilpa was the last to know. “When he told me, I was like ‘Okay’. Yes, thoda zyada hogaya. There was no PR activity or anything at that time. Kuch pata hi nahi tha na. I was the last one to know that something like this was going to happen. No one used to take permission at that time. The film worked well, so I wasn’t really angry,” she said, shrugging it off in hindsight.

Meanwhile on the work front, Shilpa Shirodkar is ready to return to the screen in the upcoming film Jatadhara, starring alongside Sonakshi Sinha.