Remembering Divya Bharati

Born: 25 February 1974, Mumbai
Died: 5 April 1993, Versova, Mumbai
Divya Bharati acted in over 14 Hindi films between 1992 and 1993, which is to date an unbroken record in Hindi cinema. She died on 5 April 1993, aged 19, from head injuries sustained after falling off the balcony of her fifth-floor apartment at Tulsi Buildings in Versova, Mumbai.
Divya was born on February 25, 1974 to Meeta and Om Prakash Bharti.
In 1988, Bharti was discovered by filmmaker Nandu Tolani. Upon seeing her, Tolani insisted on signing her for one of his films. At that time, Bharti was in the ninth standard (in ninth grade). She was originally scheduled to make her screen debut in Gunahon Ka Devta in 1988, but her role was cancelled.  Kirti Kumar noticed Bharti at a video library and thus was eager to sign her for his project Radha Ka Sangam opposite Govinda, as he was searching for a new face. Weeks later, Kumar met with Dilip Shankar and managed to release Bharti from her contract. After taking dancing and acting lessons for months to prepare for her role, Bharti was eventually dropped and replaced by Juhi Chawla. Though the reasons remain unclear, it was speculated that Kumar's possessiveness over Bharti and her childish nature was the cause of her replacement.
Bharti's career was stalled until D. Ramanaidu, Telugu film producer, offered her Bobbili Raja opposite his son Daggubati Venkatesh. Without hoping for success after experiencing a lot of failures in Bollywood, she commenced shooting for her screen debut in Andhra Pradesh. The film was released in the summer of 1990 and became a colossal hit. Bobbili Raja remains to this day one of the most popular Telugu movies.
With more hits in the Telugu cinema, Bharti established herself as one of the most popular actresses in Telugu.  In box-office ratings, she figured next to Vijayshanti. In 1991, Bharti had back-to-back hits, including Rowdy Alludu and Assembly Rowdy opposite actors Chiranjeevi and Mohan Babu.
Later that year, Bharti began filming A. Kodandarami Reddy's action romance Dharma Kshetram under Sri Rajeev Productions. Bharti got to work for Telugu film actor Nandamuri Balakrishna.
While Bharti celebrated her success in Andhra Pradesh, Bollywood's top directors were eager to sign the Telugu superstar for their upcoming films. Bharti's first Bollywood film was Vishwatma opposite Sunny Deol, directed by Rajiv Rai, and released 2 January 1992. The film was an average grosser at the box office and gained Bharti wider recognition from the public as well as film critics Notably, the music of the film was very successful, especially the song "Saat Samundar" which became a favorite and put Bharti in the limelight of Bollywood.
A week later, Bharti's next film, Lawrence D'Souza's romantic drama Dil Ka Kya Kasoor, alongside Prithvi released. Though the film failed at the box office, it brought her name in the Filmfare magazine's "Top Ten Best Actress Performances" of 1992.
In March 1992, David Dhawan's Shola Aur Shabnam was released. It was popular with critics and was a box office hit in India, reviving Bharti's career once again. She received a Lux Face of the Year title. It also gave a big boost to Govinda's career and launched David Dhawan as an established director. Shortly after, Bharti achieved further success in Raj Kanwar's Filmfare-award-winning love story Deewana starred veteran actor Rishi Kapoor and newcomer Shahrukh Khan, which is regarded as one of the biggest blockbuster hits of 1992. Her performance in Deewana was highly appreciated. Critics reported that Bharti belonged to a new breed of Hindi film actors who broke away from character stereotypes. Bharti and Shahrukh Khan won the Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year and Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut respectively. By July 1992, Bharti's work in Deewana was said to have earned her more recognition.
She had several other releases that year, among them Jaan Se Pyaara which featured Bharti alongside Govinda once again, Geet opposite Avinash Wadhawan, Dushman Zamana alongside Armaan Kohli and Balwaan which marked the debut of Sunil Shetty. The latter being a low budget film, achieved moderate success. In October, Hema Malini's Dil Aashna Hai, again opposite Shahrukh Khan was released which didn't do as well at the box office. Divya's performance as a bar dancer who sets out to find her birth mother was however appreciated.
Bharti decided to act in one Telugu movie per year in order to not disappoint her Telugu audience. Thus, Chittamma Mogudu was released at the end of 1992, starring once again the popular couple of Bharti and Mohan Babu.
The ensemble film Kshatriya in which she co-starred alongside Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt and Raveena Tandon was the last film to be released during Bharti's lifetime.
Her personal life was not as well chartered as her tinsel one, for she fell in love with Sajid Nadiadwala, married him secretly as her parents strongly disapproved, changed her religion from Hindu to Islam, and her name to Sana.
Her life tragically came to an end on April 5, 1993 when she fell from the balcony of her 5th floor flat in Yari Road, Versova.
Two of her movies 'Rang' and 'Shatranj' were released after her passing, and were dedicated to her memory. Her film-maker husband has also dedicated several of his films to her name