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Revisiting Divya Bharti’s meteoric rise and untimely death on her 48th birth anniversary
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In one year, she packed in the luminosity of a thousand stars. With Saat Samundar Paar, she swayed onto the showbiz shoreline, seemingly in pursuit of an unfinished pledge. Matching Shah Rukh Khan’s energy with her exuberance in Aisi Deewangi, dekhi nahi kahin (Deewana), Divya Bharti cartwheeled to fame overnight. Her resume was highlighted with blockbusters Vishwatma, Shola Aur Shabnam, Dil Ka Kya Kasoor. The year 1992 had found its bestselling mantra in the fascinating child-woman.
Yet, there seems to be a faint line between burning bright and burnout as was in Divya’s case. Intemperance of fame, an impetuous marriage, and her own on-the-edge emotionality, perhaps pushed Divya towards a precarious ridge. The star was consumed by her own fire. On April 5, 1993, 19-year-old Divya Bharti fell to her death, a tragedy that still remains unforgiven and uncoded by a legion of her fans!
A BORN STAR
As a kid, cherubic Divya was doll-like. The story goes that once little Divya was seated in the front seat of the car when a man actually mistook her for a doll and asked mother Mita Bharti from where she’d picked the toy! A natural performer, Divya as a schoolgirl, would enjoy standing in front of the mirror and mimicking Sridevi’s Ta Thaiya Ta Thaiya Ho (Himmatwala, 1983) than complete her homework!
When in the 9th standard, she was approached by Kirti Kumar (Govinda’s producer brother) for Radha Ka Sangam (1992). Divya dropped out of school to learn dance, acting, and singing. Kirti wanted to keep his heroine under wraps but Divya, who enjoyed hanging out with friends, couldn’t stay home. Soon, the mahurat of Radha Ka Sangam was performed with Juhi Chawla. Boney Kapoor was scouting for a fresh face for Prem (1995) and apparently showed interest in Divya. However, she was replaced by Tabu. The third time, it was Subhash Ghai who wanted her for Saudagar (1991) but the role went to Manisha Koirala instead. Upset with the turn of events, Mita took Divya for a vacation to Kashmir. But the mother-daughter had to cut short their holiday as South producer D Rama Naidu came down to Mumbai for a narration. Rama Naidu asked the mother-daughter to leave with him for Hyderabad that evening. The film was the super hit Bobbili Raja (1990).
Back home, Rajiv Rai wanted to sign Divya for Vishwatma (1992). What Divya asked as a signing amount was a ‘Rs 500 Gandhiji note’. The film gave her the chartbusting Saat Samundar. Shot at the Bubbles discotheque in Nairobi, the track made the 17-year-old debutante a ‘star’. With equal elan, she discarded her widow-in-white drape and matched Shah Rukh Khan’s madness in Deewana (1992). With musicals, Dil Ka Kya Kasoor and Shola Aur Shabnam, the woman-centric Dil Aashna Hai, and the box-office friendly Balwaan, all in 1992, the sensational Divya walked away with the Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year.
CHILD AT HEART
With a yen for fun and pranks, Divya was a perpetual riot. Once a birthday party was thrown for her at China Garden. After the party, she stood on the bonnet of a car and started dancing. Getting playful, she once scratched Shah Rukh Khan on the sets of Dil Aashna Hai. His secretary called up to say that the star wouldn’t work with her. But later, Shah Rukh Khan laughed it off saying, “I said this just to scare her. She’s a bachhi (child)’.”
“She was like a child and would tell David (Dhawan, director), ‘Tujhe to akal nahin hai (you have no sense). She’d call choreographer Saroj Khan ‘moti (fat)’ in jest,” once recalled father Om Prakash Bharti. “She’d speak in her inimitable style, ‘Chalna yaar, jane de na yaar…’” seconded mother Mita Bharti.
Divya fell in love when she was young. Giving in to her emotions, she married filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala on 10 May 1992. Initially, it was kept a secret. Barely 19, her chips had soared to an incredible high. But suddenly, it all plunged on April 5, 1993.
TRAGIC TURN
On a fateful day, Divya was supposed to fly to Hyderabad for a Telugu film. But as revealed by her family later, she was walking around with a ‘bandaged’ foot to avoid going to Hyderabad. After a visit to the parlour, she finalized an apartment in Bandra with father Om Prakash and brother Kunal Bharti. She was told she’d be handed over the keys on her return from Mauritius where she was to fly for a shoot. Joyous about the deal, she started dancing on the street. She even met her old neighbours in Bandra. It was past 10 pm when she got a call from Sajid saying that costume designer Neeta Lulla and her psychiatrist husband Dr. Shyam Lulla (who was reportedly treating Divya for depression) were waiting for her at home. Kunal soon dropped Divya at Sajid’s house in Tulsi Apartments, Versova. In the lift, she’s said to have met Sajid, who was to fly to Mauritius the next day. Kunal had just reached his home when he received a call that Divya had fallen from the 5th floor of Tulsi Apartments!
Reportedly, Neeta and her husband Shyam were watching TV when Divya went towards the balcony. Divya’s maid Amrita, who’d looked after her since birth, was in the kitchen. Apparently, after pouring herself a drink, Divya sat on the ledge, lost her balance, and fell. Sadly, all flats had grills except hers. Usually, cars were always parked below but that night, there were none. Divya had a free fall.
She was rushed to R.N. Cooper hospital and was declared dead on arrival. Father Om Prakash, on seeing his dear daughter, was uncontrollable. “Burn down everything. I don’t want anything, just give me back Divya,” he reportedly said crying. He was given medical help. Divya’s brother Kunal was shattered too. “I shouldn’t have left my sister behind. I was with her till ten minutes before she could jump down. She was very depressed… I want my sister back. She was just 19. Is that the age to die?’” Stardust quoted Kunal.
Reportedly, Divya’s mother Mita came around 3:45 AM. Shocked, she ‘lifted the veil that covered Divya’s face, placed her head on Divya’s chest and left the hospital’, according to the same report. Sajid was not in his senses and had frequent fainting spells. Being hypertensive, he had to be kept in the ICU.
Divya died on April 5. She was cremated on April 7. Dressed as a bride with sindoor, the last rites were performed by Sajid.
Incidentally, maid Amrita, unable to bear Divya’s loss, died of a heart attack within a month. After a few days, when Om Prakash was in better shape, Mita took him to the place where Divya had fallen and where she was cremated, in a bid to find closure. Mita always rued the fact that she wasn’t around Divya on April 5, 1993, the day she died. She had been to her brother’s house and from there, had gone to play cards. She wasn’t aware that Divya had returned to Mumbai from Chennai. “They say maut kheench laati hai (death pulls you),” she stated in an interview.
Several theories hung around Divya’s appalling death. Of substance abuse and alcohol. Of foul play. Divya had taken a bit of Mauritian Rum that night but her mother denied her taking drugs ever. “But yes, she had a self-destructive streak. During the Radha Ka Sangam phase, she was disturbed about something and slashed her wrists. She’d harm herself in anger. A few months before her death, she had visited America. There she got upset about something and burnt herself with cigarette stubs. Those marks were there even when she died,” Mita recalled in a throwback interview with Filmfare.
Mita, who internalized her pain, underwent the 10 ‘worst years’ of her life after the accident. Losing 25 kilos, she became a pale version of herself. To beat her depression, she exercised and meditated. She visited the Siddhi Vinayak Temple in Dadar every day as a routine. While she could go in her car, she chose to travel by bus.
WE ARE FAMILY
Time repairs, if not heals, the deepest wounds. Sajid married journalist Warda Khan in 2000. The two maintained close ties with the Bharti family. Sajid and Warda with their sons Subhaan and Sufiyan visited the Bhartis on festivals and special occasions. In fact, they addressed Divya’s parents as ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’.
“Divya is still very much a part of our lives. Her family, her dad, her brother Kunal, they are like our family, they are a part of each celebration… On her anniversaries and birthdays, we speak to each other. When my children watch her movies, they call her ‘Badi Mummy’. So, guys, she is still a very, very beautiful part of our lives (sic),” wrote Warda on Instagram. In fact, Sajid even threw a party to celebrate Om Prakash’s 80th birthday a few years ago. Mita passed away on 20 April 2018 due to kidney ailments, while Om Prakash passed away on October 30, 2021.
Divya continues to be an integral part of Sajid’s life. As Warda once tweeted, “Sajid still has her last touched Perfume, hair products, few more Items ……. she was part for his Debut film (KICK) Saat samundar… (sic)”. As is known, Sajid purchased the rights of the song Saat Samundar and paid a tribute to his late wife in Kick (2014), which had Salman Khan dancing to Divya’s song, Saat samundar paar.
Some relationships not only traverse the seven seas but also seven lifetimes.
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Image Credits: Shemaroo Filmi Gaane/ YouTube
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