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Divya Bharti was born on February 25, 1974 in Bombay, India. She started acting at the age of 16 when she made her debut in Telugu blockbuster film Bobbili Raja on September 14, 1990 opposite Venkatesh. Divya Bharti continued working in Telugu movies till 1992 and then decided to try her luck in Bollywood. Divya Bharti made her Bollywood debut in Rajiv Rai's Vishwatma on January 24, 1992. Vishwatma was successful at the box-office and the song "Saat Samundar Paar Main Tere Peeche Peeche Aa Gayee" featuring Divya Bharti, had become an instant favorite. She continued churning out hits after hits at the box office. She received the New Face of the Year Filmfare Award for her role in Deewana.
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Everything was going fine till a man came in her life, that man was no other than Bollywood producer/director - Sajid Nadiadwala. Divya Bharati met Sajid Nadiadwala through Govinda at the shooting of David Dhavan's 'Shola Aur Shabnam'. Their friendship blossomed into love and they both tied the knot on May 10, 1992. It was rumored that Divya Bharti had converted to Islam after her marriage and had changed her name to Sana Nadiadwala.
Post her marriage, their relationship went through a rough patch. On April 5, 1993, around 11 PM, Divya Bharti took her last breath as she fell off the balcony of her flat on the 5th floor of Tulsi Building in Versova, Mumbai. Speculations following her sudden demise floated all around – many conclude the possibility of her committing suicide. The reason of falling was never established and several theories circulated in the media during that time, including falling under influence of alcohol, push by someone, suicide, and involvement of her husband and underworld mafia. The investigation was closed in 1998 by Mumbai police and reason of death was stated as accidental death.
What Really Happened That Night?
On April 5, 1993, the day of her death, Divya Bharti had finalized a new 4 BHK Flat deal for herself. She met her brother 'Kunal' and happily shared the news. However, he soon left the apartment. Divya was to fly off to Hyderabad the same day but had to postpone her travel by a day so as to finalize her new flat deal. Divya was roaming with a bandaged foot that day and had also informed her producers about her injury. Soon Divya was supposed to meet her friend and dress designer Neeta Lulla and her husband at her Versova flat. Neeta along with her husband arrived around 10 PM at Divya’s place. The three of them sat in the living room, chatted and had drinks. Divya's maid, Amrita, was also present in the same room and was continuously talking to Divya. It was when Amrita went back to the kitchen that Divya moved towards the window while still talking to her maid, loudly. Neeta along with her husband was engrossed in watching a video on television and were not involved in the conversation. Divya’s living room did not have any balcony but had an open window. Unlike other windows in the building, this was the only window that was deprived of grills. There was a parking lot beneath the window, but that unfortunate day there was not even a single car parked there.
Divya climbed over the window and rested on a narrow ledge that was located below the open window. She had her back facing the living room. It was in an attempt when Divya tried to turn around to get on a proper hold of the window frame that she slipped off the ledge and fell straight onto the concrete below. Right after the fall, Divya was found drowned in a pool of her own blood. Though she was still alive on her way to the hospital, her pulse rate had dropped rapidly. Divya finally took her last breath in the emergency department of Cooper Hospital in Mumbai.
Two Bollywood movies featuring Divya Bharti, viz. Rang and Shatranj were released post her demise. Divya had also shot for Laadla opposite Anil Kapoor, but she died before the shooting ended. Sridevi replaced her in that movie and the movie had to be re-shot post Divya's demise.