It has been 26 years that Bollywood actress Divya Bharti left the world. She died on 5th April 1993 at the age of 19, from head injuries sustained after falling off the balcony from her fifth-floor apartment at Tulsi Building in Versova Mumbai.
Divya was known for her versatility. She was one of the famous actress in 90s. She acted in 14 Hindi films between 1992 and 1993, which is to date an unbroken record in Hindi cinema.
Bharti met director-producer Sajid Nadiadwala through Govinda at the shooting of Shola Aur Shabnam, and they were married on 10 May 1992. Divya’s father Om Prakash was against this marriage because Sajid was a Muslim, while Divya Hindu.
Within 1 year of marriage, Divya died after falling from the balcony of her fifth floor appartment around midnight on 5th April, 1993. Her death is one of the most shocking deaths ever. Whether the actress committed suicide or met an accidental death or it was a murder still remains a mystry.
Divya’s mother told in an interview to Filmfare that Divya drink Rum that night, but she never took drugs. “Yes, Divya had taken a bit of Mauritian Rum but I can bet that she never took drugs. I used to be with her all the time. Had she been taking drugs, it would have reflected in her work. But yes, she had a self destructive streak. A few months before her death, she had gone to America. There she got upset about something and burnt herself with cigarette and stubs. Those marks were still there when she died. Also during ‘Radha Ka Sangam’ phase (a movie that she was removed from to be replaced with Juhi Chawla), she was disturbed about something and had slashed her wrists. She’d harm herself in anger.”
After the death of Divya many strange stories emerged. Divya Bharti’s mother herself told that Divya often came in her dreams and wake her up. She said, “I often saw Divya in my dreams. On days, when I had to wake up early, she would appear in my dream and wake me up.
Not only this, Sajid Nadiadwala’s second wife Wardha says that Divya often appeared in her dreams too. She’s see Divya in her dreams too, she would be on one side of Sajid while she (Wardha) would be on the other side. But after six years of marriage, Divya stopped reappearing.
what happened with Sridevi on the sets of Laadla
After Divya’s death, two of her films released that were Rang and Shatranj. At that time, Divya also completed 80% of the shooting of ‘Laadla’ opposite Anil Kapoor. And after her death, Sridevi replaces her.
According to the reports, the strange incident happened even during the shooting of the film. Raveena Tandon once told that Sridevi was stuck on the same dialogue that gave trouble to Divya Bharti. After this, the team of the film gets scared.
Raveena told, “The first shot was an emotional one for us because Sridevi had stepped into Divya Bharti’s shoes after her untimely demise. Divya, Shakti Kapoor and I had shot a scene in Aurangabad where she fires us and throws us out of the office. While shooting the scene, Divya was constantly getting stuck on a particular line of dialogue and had to give several retakes before it was okay.”
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She further said, “Around six months later, we were shooting the same scene with Sridevi in the same office and it was so eerie because she was stuck on the same line. All of us on the set had gooseflesh and Shaktiji (Shakti Kapoor) suggested we all chant the Gayatri mantra aloud. I held Sridevi’s hand as we said the prayers, then we broke a coconut and resumed shooting.”