
Divya Bharti was born as Divya Om Prakash Bharti on February 25, 1974. She was born to Meeta and Om Prakash Bharti. She had one younger brother named Kunal. She was too keen to make her career in acting and thus left studies to pursue her dreams. She started to act at a tender age of 16. In May 1992 she secretively married Bollywood film producer Sajid Nadiadwala.
Career of Divya Bharti
Divya had been a popular Indian film actress who has starred in Bollywood films, along with some Tamil and Telugu films in the early 1990s. Divya Bharti made her acting debut in a 1990 Tamil film titled Nilla Penne (1990) at the age of 16. Unfortunately, this film did not work well in the box office.
Divya Bharti got her first break in proper Telugu film `Bobbili Raja` opposite Venkatesh. She also acted in several other Telugu films for the next two years. Finally, she gained incredible popularity with Hindi language film industry Bollywood. Her debut film was `Vishwatma` in 1992. She came into prominence because of the popular song Saat Samundar, picturized on her in the film. She appeared in more than 14 Hindi films in that single year which was considered a record at the time for a newcomer. Her career was unfortunately short-lived after her mysterious death on 5 April 1993 at the age of only 19.
Actor and director Kirti Kumar, brother of actor
Govinda first noticed Divya Bharti in 1988. She was offered the role in their movie `Radha Ka Sangam.` However, this role ultimately went to
Juhi Chawla. Divya Bharti`s Telugu film Bobbili Raja was also dubbed in Hindi as Rampur Ka Raja. She went on to do more four Telugu films, namely the `Dharma Kshetram`, `Tholi Mudhu`, `Rowdy Alludu` and `Assembly Rowdy` in which she co-starred with Telegu superstars Balakrishna, Chiranjeevi, Prashanth, and Mohan Babu respectively. Some of the most memorable Bollywood films that she has done in 1992 include `Deewana, Dil Aashna Hai` and `Shola Aur Shabnam.` She was one of the leading actresses in Bollywood and was often in competition with
Sridevi and
Madhuri Dixit.
Divya Bharti won the Filmfare Lux New Face Award. Divya Bharti worked with most of the top actors in Bollywood in that era such as
Sunny Deol,
Rishi Kapoor,
Jackie Shroff, Govinda,
Sanjay Dutt as well as Shahrukh Khan and Sunil Shetty who were newcomers at the time.
Divya Bharti`s sudden death on April 5, 1993 at the age of only 19 was devastating news for the film industry. It was known that Divya fell off a 5-storey apartment building, Tulsi 2 in
Mumbai unfortunately. Divya`s funeral was conducted on April 7. Divya Bharti completed the two films `Rang` and `Shatranj` just before her death. They were released months after her death.
Filmography of Divya Bharti
Year Title
1990 Bobbili Raja (Telugu)
1990 Nila Penne (Tamil)
1991 Naa Ille Naa Swargam (Telugu)
1992 Rowdy Alludu (Telugu)
1992 Dharma Kshetram (Telugu)
1992 Assembly Rowdy (Telugu)
1992 Vishwatma
1992 Shola Aur Shabnam
1992 Dil Ka Kya Kasoor
1992 Jaan Se Pyaara
1992 Deewana
1992 Balwaan
1992 Dushman Zamana
1992 Dil Aashna Hai
1992 Geet
1992 Chittamma Mogudu (Telugu)
1993 Tholi Muddhu (Telugu)
1993 Dil Hi To Hai
1993 Kshatriya
1993 Rang
1993 Shatranj
(Last Updated on : 20/04/2011)