The suicide of TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee and the unanswered questions behind it, have been rising every new day.
That reminds SpotboyE of the mysterious death of the rising star Divya Bharti of the early 1990s. At the age of 19, she reportedly fell to her death from a fifth floor apartment in Versova, Andheri.
This was on April 5, 1993. It is her 23rd death anniversary today and moviegoers continue to wonder about the mysterious, fatal fall of Divya Bharti. At the time of the tragic event, domestic help Amrita, designer Neeta Lulla and her husband psychiatrist Shyam Lulla, were present at the flat located in Tulsi Apartments.
Divya’s husband, producer Sajid Nadiadwala, wasn’t present at the apartment. The two had been married since eight months in a hush-hush ceremony, the reports of the times stated. Divya had adopted the name of Sana.
The case was subsequently closed, with the cause given as “an unnatural death” by the police in charge of the investigation.
To date, Divya Bharti’s fans have maintained an official website devoted to her memory.
The portal includes a frank talk by Divya which reveals little-known facts:
At the outset, Divya was offered Kirti Kumar’s film Radha Ka Sangam opposite his brother Govinda. He had sighted her at a video circulating library. But the director found her unpredictable and replaced her with Juhi Chawla. Eventually, she made an impact with the Telugu film Bobbili Raja opposite Venkatesh followed by Vishwatma opposite Sunny Deol.
Divya Bharti is said to have lashed out against Karisma Kapoor in print. Divya denied this vehemently. The face-off had been incited by the fact that Karisma was to act in Rang but the role went to Divya. In an interview, Divya clarified that Karisma was a “sweet girl” and there were no bad vibes between them. Incidentally, Karisma and her mother Babita were among the first to reach Divya’s home as soon as the news of the fatal stunned the film industry.
Divya has mentioned that one Hemal Thakkar was a “pile-on” and thought that simply because he was rich, she would be interested in him. She wasn’t. She also vehemently denied rumours about her link-ups with Govinda, Jackie Shroff, Armaan Kohli and Telugu cinema’s superstar Mohan Babu.
It seems Shah Rukh Khan (who featured with her in Deewana and Dil Aashna Hai) was put off when she scratched him in jest during a shoot. He refused to work with her, but was persuaded to give her another chance.
So while many stories continue to swirl in the public memory of the feisty actress, her tragic end remains fogged in a mystery. What exactly compelled that fall from the paanchvi manzil? Was it accidental? Was it impulsive? Such questions continue to blow in the wind.
Image Source: twitter/divyabhartifb