Shilpa Shirodkar and the Death Hoax That Shook Bollywood: A Pre-Internet Publicity Stunt Done Dirty

Before hashtags, before Twitter wars, and before fact-checking bots policed celebrity gossip, Bollywood had a whole different drama engine: newspaper headlines and old-school shock value.

In 1995, actress Shilpa Shirodkar unknowingly became the centerpiece of one of the most unhinged PR stunts in Bollywood history. While she was filming Raghuveer in the remote hills of Manali, a major newspaper ran the headline: "Shilpa Shirodkar Shot Dead."

Imagine the chaos. Her parents panicked, unable to reach her in an era before mobile phones. Locals on set were asking if the actress in front of them was real, or just a very convincing doppelgänger. And Shilpa? She returned to 20+ missed calls and a minor national panic.

The twist? It was all fake. A publicity stunt orchestrated by none other than music mogul and film producer Gulshan Kumar to drum up attention for Raghuveer. Shilpa, the actual person involved, wasn't even informed.

“I wasn’t angry, the film did well, but thoda zyada ho gaya,” Shilpa recalls with an amused hindsight.

This incident is more than just juicy gossip—it’s a snapshot of a pre-digital Bollywood. No press releases, no PR gatekeeping, and certainly no consideration of emotional trauma. It also reveals the ethics gap between past and present-day Bollywood promotions. Today, even a whisper of such a stunt would bring legal action, social media backlash, and an army of online sleuths exposing the gimmick.

Yet, what makes Shilpa’s story iconic is not the drama—but her response. Decades later, she’s not bitter. She’s back, starring in Jatadhara, joining the circus of Bigg Boss 18, and laughing off the insanity like a pro.

Because in Bollywood, as in life, sometimes the biggest plot twist... is the promo.