Divya Bharti

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Divya Bharti
Born Divya Om Prakash Bharti
February 25, 1974
India
Died April 5, 1993 (aged 19)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Other name(s) Sana Nadiadwala
Years active 1990-1993
Spouse(s) Sajid Nadiadwala (1992-1993)

Divya Bharti (Hindi: दिव्या भारती), (born Divya Om Prakash Bharti, February 25, 1974 - April 5, 1993) was a popular Indian film actress in the early 1990s. She started her career in 1990 at the age of 16 when she acted in the Telugu film Bobbili Raja which was a huge hit. She went onto act in four other Telugu films over the next two years. She then found success with the Hindi language film industry Bollywood in 1992 making her debut in Vishwatma. She appeared in more than 14 Hindi films that year which was considered a record at the time for a newcomer. Her career was tragically short-lived after her mysterious death in April 1993 at the age of 19.

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[edit] Personal life

Divya Bharti was born to parents Meeta and Om Prakash Bharti. She had one younger brother named Kunal. She left her studies to start acting at the age of 16. In May 1992 she secretly married Bollywood film producer Sajid Nadiadwala but kept the marriage a secret due to family problems and also to prevent any controversies in her movie career.

[edit] Film career

Divya was first discovered by Kirti Kumar, brother of actor Govinda in 1988 and was considered for a role in the film Radha Ka Sangam opposite Govinda but was eventually turned down.

Divya Bharti eventually made her acting debut at the age of 16 in a 1990 Telugu film Bobbili Raja (1990) in which she starred opposite Venkatesh. The film was also dubbed in Hindi as Rampur Ka Raja. She went on to star in four more Telugu films; Dharma Kshetram, Tholi Mudhu, Rowdy Alludu and Assembly Rowdy in which she co-starred with Telegu superstars Balakrishna, Prashanth, Chiranjeevi and Mohan Babu respectively. She also starred in one Tamil film Nila Penne opposite Anand.

She then switched over to the Bollywood industry and made her Hindi film debut in the 1992 film Vishwatma. The film was only an average hit at the box office[1] but got her noticed for the popular song Saat Samundar which was picturized on her in the film. Many of her other Hindi films released that same year which was a record for any newcomer actress in Bollywood at the time. Some of her most notable films in 1992 included Deewana, Dil Aashna Hai and Shola Aur Shabnam putting her at the third position of the leading actresses in Bollywood that year after Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi.[2]and gaining her the Filmfare Lux New Face Award. She worked with most of the top actors in Bollywood at the time such as Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff, Rishi Kapoor, Govinda, Sanjay Dutt as well as Shahrukh Khan and Sunil Shetty who were newcomers at the time. She was also due to co-star with Akshay Kumar in Mohra , Ajay Devgan in Vijaypath, Sanjay Kapoor in Kartavya, Anil Kapoor in Laadla and Sunny Deol in Angrakshak before her death.

[edit] Death

On April 5, 1993 at the age of only 19, Divya fell to her death off a 5-story apartment building in Mumbai tragically ending a potentially successful career.

Divya's funeral took place on April 7.[3]About 500 people attended the funeral of the then youngest heroine of the silver screen, including Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Kamal Sadanah, Raj Babbar, Yash Chopra, Jimmy Nirula, Sudhakar Bokade, Mukesh Duggal, Raza Murad, Vikas Anand, Venkatesh, Ram Mohan, Javed Khan, Raj Kanwar, Nitin Manmohan and Pehlaj Nehlani, maker of her first hit, Shola aur Shabnam. A large number of film personalities, including Hema Malini, Urmila Matondkar, Shilpa Shirodkar, Sonu Walia, Somy Ali, Karisma Kapoor, Sangeeta Bijlani, Tabu, Manisha Koirala and Asha Parekh, offered condolences to the bereaved family members at their residence.[4]

Divya's two final completed films Rang and Shatranj were released months after her death. These, in addition to several films produced by her husband Sajid Nadiadwala, were dedicated to her memory. She was also meant to do movies including Mohra, Laadla , Andolan , Angrakshak ,Kartavya (1995), and Vijaypath before her death.

Till this day nobody knows exactly if she fell accidentally or was pushed.

[edit] Quotes about Divya from her colleagues

Interview: Divya Deadly! The New Sensation, Filmfare October 1992

"When I decided to sign her everyone thought I was mad. She worked even with 102 degrees temperature. At times she's like a ziddi brat and you have to deal with her patient, indulgent parent. I had to really pamper her" - Raj Kanwar.

"She's the most promising newcomer. She had all that our audiences go for- wide -eyed innocence, a perfect figure and all the jatkas and matkas. Even of her next four or five films flop her fans will remain with her and that makes her a favorite with the distributors" - Pehlaj Nihlani.

"She got thrown out of so many films, so many people treated her badly, it would have embittered anyone. Now she's a star she wants to get even with these people" - Lawrence D'Souza.

"It's not just her talent or the will to slog that they are raving about but also her proficiency, her involvement in her work" - Talat Jani.

"We have been waiting for her a year. By now even Amitabh Bachchan would have given us the dates" - Sajid Nadiadwala

Article: Racing to the Top, Numero Uno' 1993 -Filmare, January 1993

"Among the Actresses- Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit and Divya will be the stars of 1993" - Sudharkar Bokade.

"Divya has the potential but her unprofessional attitude comes in her way. If she pays attention to her work she can go far" - Inder Kumar

"Divya should be a good bet if she has the right releases. When I saw her in Bobblili Raja i was impressed with her." - Ashok Thakeria

"Divya is also very cute, she been lucky with Shola aur Shabnam and Deewana" - R.K Nayyar

"Divya is the find of 92 and hopefully she wont fall short of expectations" - Mohan Kumar

"I feel Divya had the making of a No. 1 but I feel her career is no longer her priority" - Suraj Sanim

"Among the Girls Divya has good films and a lot of luck as her films have run" - Anil Sharma

"Divya Bharati is the one with potential among the newer lot." - Prakash Mehra

"Sridevi and Madhuri are also in similar positions, Those likely to compete with them are Divya Bharati and Juhi" - Yash Chopra

Divya Bharati's Ghost is Alive , The spirit that's Haunting Juhi and Kajol! - Showtime, February 1994

"Kajol and Divya have a lot in common their youth, vivacity, spontaneity" -Producer, Shabnam Kapoor

"If Divya have been alive, the best roles would have gone to her. Divya had everything- she was bubbly, a wonderful actress, a fabulous dancer and a good looker too. She had the combination of a beautiful face and sexy figure which no one else has. The way she was going, everybody would have been talking of only Divya and nobody else, I cant say who would've got or not got which roles, but if divya was there the roles would've been more divided, Divya has no replacement". -Director, David Dhawan

"Juhi, kajol and karisma are in different spot, Divya had a totally different kind of appeal from those three. what she had was natural and god given, if cannot be created by oneone, however much they may try. She had a raw, tamed, wild look about her which magnetised the audience" - Actor, Govinda

"There was nobody like Divya and there will be nobody alike her" - indo-British actor" - Saeed Jaffrey

"When Divya Was Around, did anyone talk about Juhi, After Sridevi and Madhuri , Divya was the next and only choice of the producers - Meeta Bharati

"Who Says i copy Divya?, Yah i know I've replaced her opposite Ajay Devgan in Hulchul and the producer tells me that my bubbly nature reminds her of Divya" - Kajol

" It is strange that a girl who spend only three years in industry has become irreplaceable. Every filmmaker is trying to find another Divya Bharti, But no one fits. Everyone is hunting hard but there is not even a pale xerox of the vibrant original anywhere on the horizon. Until the ideal replacement arrives, divya's ghost is alive and kicking." - Sujeta Garimella

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Co-Star Language Box Office
1990 Bobbili Raja Ventakesh Telugu All Time Blockbuster
1990 Nila Penne Anand Tamil Flop
1991 Rowdy Alludu Chiranjeevi Telugu Hit
1992 Dharma Kshetram Balakrishna Telugu Hit
1992 Assembly Rowdy Mohan Babu Telugu Hit
1992 Vishwatma Sunny Deol Hindi Average
1992 Shola Aur Shabnam Govinda Hindi SuperHit
1992 Dil Ka Kya Kasoor Prithvi Hindi Flop
1992 Jaan Se Pyaara Govinda Hindi Flop
1992 Deewana Shahrukh Khan and Rishi Kapoor Hindi SuperHit
1992 Balwaan Sunil Shetty Hindi Average
1992 Dushman Zamaana Armaan Kohli Hindi Flop
1992 Dil Hi To Hai Jackie Shroff Hindi Flop
1992 Dil Aashna Hai Shahrukh Khan Hindi Flop
1992 Geet Avinash Wadhavan Hindi Flop
1993 Tholi Muddhu Prashanth Telugu
1993 Kshatriya Sanjay Dutt Hindi Flop
1993 Rang Kamal Sadanah Hindi Average
1993 Shatranj Jackie Shroff Hindi Flop
Awards
Filmfare Award
Preceded by
Raveena Tandon
for Patthar Ke Phool
Lux New Face
for Deewana

1992
Succeeded by
Mamta Kulkarni
for Aashiq Awara

[edit] Incomplete films\ Made with other Actresses

Year Of release Title Co-Star Replacements Box-office

1993

Dhanwaan Ajay Devgan Karisma Kapoor Average
1994 Mohra Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty Raveena Tandon SuperHit
1994 Laadla Anil Kapoor Sridevi Hit
1994 Vijaypath Ajay Devgan Tabu Hit
1995 Andolan Govinda Mamta Kulkarni Average
1995 Kartavya Sanjay Kapoor Juhi Chawla Flop
1995 Angrakshak Sunny Deol Pooja Bhatt Flop
1995 Hulchul Ajay Devgan Kajol Below Average
1995 Kanyadaan Rishi Kapoor Movie never made
1995 Do Kadam Salman Khan Movie never made
1995 Parinaam Akshay Kumar Movie Never Made
1995 Chal Pe Chal Jackie Shroff Movie Never Made

[edit] Note

  • All the list of Incomplete films is copyright from Filmfare, and Cineblitz Magzines of May, 1993

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[edit] References

[edit] External links