Mini Biography

By: Manasvi Raj Mehta [gwaliorhunk@gmail.com]
Divya Bharti, (born Divya Om Prakash Bharti, February 25, 1974 - April 5, 1993) was a popular Indian film actress in the early 1990s. Divya Bharti was born to parents Meeta and Om Prakash. She left studies to start acting at the age of 16. She made her debut at the age of 16 in a Telugu film called Bobbili Raja (1990) which starred Venkatesh. This movie was dubbed in Hindi as Rampur Ka Raja. Then she starred in Dharma Kshetram, Tholi Madhu and Rowdy Alludu which were also Telugu films and featured superstars Chiranjeevi and Prashanth respectively. She made her Hindi film debut in the 1992 film Vishwatma. The film did not do well at the box office but showcased Divya's talents as an actress. She was most notable for the song used in the film Saat Samundar which was a hit. 1992 saw more of her Hindi films being released including Dil Hi To Hai, Deewana, Shola Aur Shabnam, Dil Aashna Hai, Kshatriya, Jaan Se Pyaara, and Geet. Some of these films were hits and some flopped but her fanbase grew and she was the leading actress of 1992 having received the Filmfare Lux New Face Award that same year. She secretly married Bollywood film producer Sajid Nadiadwala in May 1992 but kept the marriage a secret due to family problems because of her being a Hindu and him being a Muslim and also to safeguard her promising movie career. After marriage she converted into Islam with her new name being Sana Nadiadwala. On April 5, 1993, she fell to her death off a 5-storey apartment building in Mumbai tragically ending a potentially successful career.



The circumstances behind her death were considered suspicious by the media; however, despite an investigation, police found nothing. To this day her death remains a mystery. Some sources believe she was pushed, others say she accidentally fell off and some say she was drunk and this caused her to fall. Her two final films Rang and Shatranj were released after her death and dedicated to her memory. Her husband Sajid Nadiadwala continues to dedicate all his produced films in her memory to this day.

Film Career

Divya was first discovered by actor and director Kirti Kumar, brother of actor Govinda in 1988 and was considered for a role in their movie Radha Ka Sangam. This role ultimately went to Juhi Chawla.

Divya Bharti made her acting debut at the age of 16 in a 1990 Tamil film titled Nila Pennae and her first hit was the Telugu film titled 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 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 Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit.[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.

DIVYA BHARTI

Divya Bharti (Hindi: दिव्या भारती), (born Divya Om Prakash Bharti, February 25, 1974 - April 5, 1993) was a popular Indian film actress who mostly starred in Bollywood films but had done a few Tamil and Telugu films in the early 1990s. Divya Bharti made her acting debut at the age of 16 in a 1990 Tamil film titled Nilla Penne (1990) which was a flop. She got her first break in the Telugu film Bobbili Raja opposite Venkatesh. She also went onto act in several other Telugu films over the next two years. She then found success with Hindi language film industry Bollywood making her debut in Vishwatma in 1992. 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 cut short by her mysterious death in April 1993 at the age of 19. The actress was said to be the younger version of Bollywood legend Sridevi due to the facial resemblence.