Divya Bharati

Date of Birth: 25 February 1974

Date of Death: 5 April 1993

Birth Name: Divya Om Parkash Bharti

Nickname: Sana

Height: 5' 4" (1.63 m)

Divya was born on February 25, 1974 to Meeta and Om Prakash Bharti.She is opting for acting, she quit college, & landed a role in 'Bobbili Raja' (Telegu) in 1990 at just 16 years of age. This movie became a hit, and was dubbed into Hindi and released as 'Raampur Ka Raja'.



After several other hits in the South, she entered Hindi films with 'Vishwatma' in 1992 as her debut film, where she earned accolades for performing the song "Saat Samundar Paar". She appeared in more than 14 Hindi films between 1992 and 1993 - a world record for a newcomer.


She was in the ninth grade when she began to get film offers. Her face resembled to those days' superstar Sridevi and so got noticed by many directors and producers. At first her parents were hesitant, till Nandu Tolani offered her Gunahon Ka Devta. She was 14 and half at that time.


Meanwhile, she learned via a friend 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. During those time, Kirti Kumar, Govinda's brother noticed the charming Divya at a video library. He followed her to her residence and then he called up the director Nandu Tolani, who resides in the next building and asked about her.


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 rumor that it was her childish reputation had preceded her. In magazines, she had earned a name for being wild and crazy. In fact, for his big budget film Prem, Boney Kapoor signed her. Eight days later, she was out and Tabu was re-signed. Later Subhash Ghai too called her for Saudagar opposite Aamir Khan and 20 days later she was out and he signed Manisha Koirala and Vivek Mushran. By then, the rejection had affected fifteen years old Divya. Since she was already out of school, they would not accept her back. As result, she was forced to sit idle. Fortunately, One of the biggest producer of Telugu cinema, D. Ramanaidu landed up at her doorstep. He offered her , Bobbili Raja, a telugu film opposite Daggubati Venkatesh. Immediately, she got a Tamil Film and Rajiv Rai approached her for Vishwatma.


Barely 16, Divya met Sajid Nadiadwala in 1990 at Filmcity, when Sajid dropped by the sets to Meet his friend Govinda. Divya was shooting with Govinda Ahuja on the sets of Shola Aur Shabnam. 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, she 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". As Sajid quotes "We kept the marriage a secret because her career was at stake. Her producers would have panicked. In retrospect, I wish we had told the truth. Divya wanted to announce that we were married but i kept telling her to wait for a while. I wish I hadn't. Every time she saw the rushes of her films, she would sigh, "This will flop and people will ask me to quit". But that never happened, her films were hits. By the end of 1993, she would have completed all her assignments.


Around midnight 5 April 1993, she fell to her death off her husband's 5-storey apartment building, Tulsi 2 in Mumbai. There were numerous speculations by the media regarding her sudden demise, including the possibility of accidental death, suicide and even murder. Her 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 on 7 April 1993 and the funeral took place the same day. About 500 people attended the funeral of then youngest heroine of the silver screen, including Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Kamal Sadanah, Raj Babbar, Yash Chopra, Jimmy Nirula, Aruna Irani, 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, Saif Ali Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Shilpa Shirodkar, Sonu Walia, Somy Ali, Babita, Karisma Kapoor, Sangeeta Bijlani, Tabu, Manisha Koirala and Asha Parekh, offered condolences to the bereaved family members at their residence.


She was scheduled to star in movies including Mohra, Laadla, Andolan, Angrakshak ,Kartavya (1995), and Vijaypath before her death. Her roles were recast.She had almost completed 80% of Laadla before her death but the entire movie was redone with Sri Devi, and footage of her performance on scenes that she had completed was released years later. The movie would have released in 1993 had she completed the movie but it was eventually released in 1994.


Her 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.


Please pray for her great and lovable soul with me.