Somy Ali Offers $5,000 Reward in Search for Missing Actor Raj Kiran

• Somy Ali has announced a $5,000 reward for verified information that helps locate missing actor Raj Kiran.
• She says she has spent 16 years searching for the actor after promising late actor Rishi Kapoor she would continue the effort.
• Raj Kiran has been missing since 2003, and his whereabouts remain unconfirmed despite investigations and repeated public appeals.
• Somy says she hired private investigators, contacted Raj Kiran’s relatives and considered filing a missing person’s report with the New York Police Department.
• Conflicting claims about Raj Kiran’s whereabouts have surfaced over the years, but none have been independently confirmed.

Former actor and activist Somy Ali has renewed her appeal to locate missing Bollywood actor Raj Kiran, announcing a $5,000 reward for credible information about his whereabouts. The appeal comes more than two decades after Raj Kiran disappeared in 2003, a case that remains one of Hindi cinema’s longest-running unsolved mysteries.

In a detailed Instagram post, Somy said she has spent the past 16 years searching for the actor after making a promise to late actor Rishi Kapoor, Raj Kiran’s co-star in the 1980 film Karz. She said the search began after the two discussed Raj Kiran’s unexplained disappearance during a film shoot and agreed to try to find him.

Somy said her efforts have included hiring private investigators, visiting addresses linked to the actor in the United States and attempting to contact members of his family. She also shared screenshots and documents that she said detail her attempts to reach Raj Kiran’s brother, Gobind, and sister-in-law, Judy.

Appealing for public assistance, Somy wrote that anyone able to provide a legitimate address—whether a residence or a mental health facility—would be eligible for the reward. She also revealed that she had considered filing a missing person’s report with the New York Police Department and said she had financed the search with personal savings, at times borrowing money from her mother.

Conflicting claims over Raj Kiran’s whereabouts

Despite years of searches, Raj Kiran’s whereabouts remain unverified.

In 2011, Rishi Kapoor told journalist Subhash K. Jha that Raj Kiran’s brother had informed him the actor was alive and receiving treatment at a psychiatric institution in Atlanta.

That account was later disputed by Raj Kiran’s daughter, Rishika Mahtani, who told Mid-Day that her father was not in Atlanta. She said the family had approached the New York Police and hired private investigators but had been unable to locate him. Rishika also acknowledged that her father experienced mental health issues before he disappeared while stressing that reports placing him in Atlanta were inaccurate.

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who met Raj Kiran during treatment at Mumbai’s Masina Hospital, previously recalled that the actor appeared withdrawn and depressed, saying he was no longer the energetic performer colleagues had known. Bhatt also said attempts to revive Raj Kiran’s acting career were unsuccessful.

A career cut short

Raj Kiran made his Hindi film debut with Kaagaz Ki Nao in 1975 and went on to appear in more than 100 films. He became widely known for performances in Karz, Arth, Baseraa, Raaj Tilak and Ek Naya Rishta, before film offers declined during the 1990s. He was last seen by his family in 2003.

Over the years, unverified reports have suggested he was living in the United States, including claims that he worked at a psychiatric institution and another alleging he was driving a taxi in New York. None of those claims has been substantiated.

Somy’s latest appeal has brought renewed attention to the unresolved case, but more than 20 years after Raj Kiran’s disappearance, there has been no confirmed public sighting or official explanation of what happened to the actor.