On the 36th birth anniversary of late Bollywood actress Divya Bharti, who died at a young age of 19 on April 5, 1993, we bring you some snippets of her short life in pics.
On the 35th birth anniversary of late Bollywood actress Divya Bharti, who died at a young age of 19 on April 5, 1993, we bring you some snippets of her short life in pics.
Divya, was the daughter of Omprakash Bharti, an insurance officer, and Meeta Bharti, a housewife. She had a younger brother Kunal.
The pretty actress studied at Maneckji Cooper High School in Mumbai from where she completed 9th class. Divya was not keen on acting during her school years. However, she used to take part in fashion shows during the Ganapati festival.
Divya was in the ninth standard when she began to get film offers. Since her face resembled to superstar Sridevi she got noticed by many directors and producers.
At first her parents were hesitant, because even Divya wasn't too keen on joining films. Nandu Tolani offered her Gunahon Ka Devta in 1988. Divya finally agreed to enter in to showbiz. She was 14-and-a-half then.
Meanwhile, Divya learnt that Dalip Shankar wanted a new girl opposite Aamir Khan in Aatank Hi Aatank and Rudra Avtaar. By her parents permission, Divya signed both films. She was then noticed by Govinda's brother Kirti Kumar.
Kirti Kumar was very eager to sign Divya for Radha Ka Sangam opposite Govinda. Kirti went personally to meet Dalip Shankar and managed to release her from their contract. Producer Kirti launched her with much fanfare. But even before the first shot was taken, Divya was out of the film. She was replaced by Juhi Chawla.
The reasons each side gave for the fall-out were different. There were reports which said since "Kirti became over-possessive about her" she decided to leave. Other magazines wrote "Divya was having an affair with Govinda and Kirti couldn't tolerate that. Others wrote "It was Divya's immaturity, which made her drop out of the film.
And that was the green signal for other filmmakers to enter the fray. She was screen-tested by big names Boney Kapoor, Shabnam Kapoor, Shekhar Kapoor and Subhash Ghai. They all raved about her but no one signed her, there were rumours that her childish reputation had preceded her talent.
In magazines, she was refered to as "being wild and crazy". In fact, reports were that she was Boney Kapoor's first choice for Prem but eight days later, Divya was out and Tabu was signed in for the role. Later Subhash Ghai too called her for Saudagar opposite Aamir Khan but 20 days later she was out and Ghai signed a fresh pair in Manisha Koirala and Vivek Mushran for the film.
By then, rejection had affected then 15-year-old Divya. Since she was already out of school, they would not accept her back. As a result, she was forced to sit idle. That was the time, when one of the biggest producer of Telugu cinema, D Ramanaidu landed up at Divya's doorstep. He offered Divya , Bobbili Raja, a Telugu film opposite Daggubati Venkatesh. Following that Divya got an offer to work in Tamil Film.
After being dropped out of so many big projects, Divya got depressed and left Mumbai. On the evening of her return, the producer of Bobbili Raja sent his men over. Divya was quoted in the Nov 1991 issue of Movie magazine, "I didn't want to go. I said no but mummy said yes. Imagine, the film became a superhit and I became a superstar". Bobbili Raja released in 1990 became a superhit and she captured the south by storm, and was a goddess there.
With more hits, she became a big star in Telugu cinema and figured next only to Vijayshanti. Her price, according to an insider, had touched a whopping Rs 25 lakhs per film and 1 lakh per each additional day (If shooting postponed south producers were paying 15 lakhs for 15 days), which was a big amount in the 90s.
In 1991 Divya gave back-to-back hits including Rowdy Alludu, Dharma Kshetram and Assembly Rowdy opposite superstars of Telugu cinema including Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna and Mohan Babu. In north India, she was known as the Sridevi of Telugu films.
But, Divya always wanted to make it big in Mumbai. And she was back with fresh determination and she cut down to signing one movie per year down south.
When Divya heard that Rajiv Rai was on the lookout for a fresh face for his film Vishwatma, she walked into his office with her portfolio. And the same day signed the film. Rajiv was making the sequel to his Blockbuster film Tridev.
Vishwatma was launched in the late 1990 with grand mahurat. Film actor Dharamendra gave the mahurat shot. Soon Divya was left for long outdoor shooting in Nairobi. By the time Divya came back, film offers started pouring in for Divya. Without a single release so far, Divya signed 14 films. She was also known as Shah Rukh Khan's leading lady as Shah Rukh said she was the one that made him famous in the films Deewana, and Dil Aashna Hai.
January 2, 1992 was a big day for Divya. Vishwatma did do well however the film's success didn't come close to that of Tridev. Although, Saath Samundar Paar, which was picturised on Divya, became a hit and even today the audience remember Divya in that song.
Seven days later, Divya's musical bonanza Dil Ka Kya Kasoor released. It was supposed to establish her as a popular heroine but opened to empty theaters. No one expected film to bomb so badly. Although, the film failed to impress the audience her flops made her a star.
Then came Pehlaj Nihlani's Shola Aur Shabnam opposite Govinda, the film proved to a box office hit and Divya was riding high again. Four months later, Raj Kanwar's love story Deewana became the biggest hit of 1992, where she held her own against veteran Rishi Kapoor and the debutant Shah Rukh Khan. With the super success of Deewana, Divya got rid of her promising newcomer status and entered the A-list.
Around that time, Divya's other films Balwaan, with Sunil Shetty, and Jaan Se Pyaara, with Govinda released and did well at the box office. By the end of the year, Hema Malini's Dil Aashna Hai released, in which Divya played a bar dancer. Although the film was a box-office failure, her performance in the film was much appreciated by critics.
She was barely 16, when Divya met Sajid Nadiadwala in 1990 at Filmcity. It was Govinda who introduced Sajid to Divya. Soon, it became a routine for the unit to see Sajid on sets everyday. As Sajid quotes in Movie June 1993 issue "Somewhere around 15 January 1992 Divya told me that she wanted to get married. The very next day she was tense because her name was being linked with all heroes. She wanted to marry and put an end to all these controversies. People expect me to have a relationship with everyone, she would complain." Then on 20 May 1992. Divya got married to Sajid in the presence of her hairdresser Sandhya, the hairdresser's husband and a Kazi at Tulsi apartments, Sajid's Versova residence. She converted to Islam and took on a new name, "Sanah".
Destiny had other plans, on the fateful day of 5 April 1993, Divya fell on the compound from her 5th floor apartment, She was only 19. Around midnight Divya fell to her death off her husband's 5-storey apartment building. There were numerous speculations by the media regarding Divya's sudden demise, including the possibility of accidental death, suicide and even murder. Divya's dress designer is believed to have been present at the apartment at the time of death but the unfortunate event could not be avoided. Police closed the investigation into her death in 1998, but the circumstances of her death still remain murky. Her body was released two days later and the funeral took place the same day. About 500 people attended the funeral of then youngest heroine of the silver screen.
Divya's two final completed films, Rang and Shatranj, were released months after her death. These films—in addition to several films produced by her husband Sajid Nadiadwala—were dedicated to her memory.
