Poonam Pandey, who shot into prominence with her bold photo shoots, passed away at her Kanpur home at a young age of 32. She was reportedly suffering from cervical cancer.
The model-turned-actor’s PR team posted, “This morning is a tough one for us. We are deeply saddened to inform you that we have lost our beloved Poonam to cervical cancer. Every living form that ever came in contact with her was met with pure love and kindness.”
Pandey was often panned for being a poser even as she photographed herself in the nude and semi-nude avatars multiple times. She was a regular on social media platforms and had garnered a huge fan following. But at the same time, she was widely slammed for being too bold and obscene and courted controversies for such actions.
In November 2020, Poonam was arrested in North Goa for allegedly shooting a nude and ‘vulgar’ video on the beach.
Back in 2011, Poonam made headlines when she claimed she would strip if the Indian cricket team won the World Cup. India did end up winning but apparently the BCCI didn’t allow her to strip.
Just a few days after marrying Sam Bombay in 2020, Poonam had accused him of assaulting him. He was arrested and later out on bail. However, they both apparently patched up soon.
According to reports, Poonam had claimed that she was threatened to sign a contract with a firm Raj Kundra was associated with. She also said that her phone number was leaked in retaliation.
Pandey’s most recent professional appearance was in the first season of “Lock Upp,” a reality show hosted by Kangana Ranaut. Though she did not win, her participation in the show expanded her fan base. The season was ultimately won by stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui.
In 2013, Pandey starred in “Nasha,” where she played a teacher who becomes romantically involved with a student. Her performance was praised by Rediff for her seductive portrayal, while Mumbai Mirror noted her role was more of a genuine, conscientious drama teacher than a mere temptress.
The poster of her film Nasha had also started a new controversy for being too bold.
Talking about how Poonam was quite the opposite of the brazen and bold image that she had, reality TV star Sambhavna Seth said she was shocked at the news and didn’t know that Poonam was goign through this.
“I knew her very well and she was a very positive person. She was a very happy-go-lucky person. Everyone does things for media attention and so did she at times but she was not like that,” she said.
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