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The 1992 film Vishwatma, starring Sunny Deol, Chunky Panday, Divya Bharti among others continues to be remembered for its iconic music by Viju Shah, which also gave Divya her most famous dance number, ‘Saat Samundar Paar’. In a recent interview, director Rajiv Rai recalled launching Divya in Bollywood with Vishwatma, without a screen test, and shared that even though Divya has passed away, the song still belongs to her.
Talking to Radio Nasha Official, Rajiv shared, “I’m the person responsible for bringing Divya to Bollywood.” He recalled meeting her at his office and said, “She came to my office once or twice. I was worried talking to her, as I wasn’t convinced. The second time she came, she cried. And then I realised, she is sincere. She will not give me trouble. First time I couldn’t gauge her. Second time, I thought, she is a very good girl. I didn’t even take her screen test.”
Actor Sonam Khan, who shared screen space with Divya Bharti in the 1992 action drama Vishwatma, also recently opened up about her experience working with the late star. In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Sonam reflected warmly on their bond: “It was my last film. We used to joke and laugh a lot. She would have been a very, very huge star,” Sonam said.
Divya Bharti’s rise after Vishwatma was meteoric. She had 12 releases in the same year, including Deewana and Dil Aashna Hai, both opposite Shah Rukh Khan, who also made his film debut that year. By the time she was just 19, Divya had already acted in over 20 films across languages. It was on the sets of Shola Aur Shabnam that she met producer Sajid Nadiadwala through actor Govinda. They got married the same year.
But just as her star was ascending, tragedy struck. On April 5, 1993, Divya Bharti died after falling from the balcony of her Mumbai apartment, at the age of 19. It was a shocking news that stunned the industry and her fans alike. In an old interview with NDTV, Shah Rukh Khan recalled the moment he heard the devastating news: “I pray for her soul. I was sleeping in Delhi and they were playing my song, Aisi Deewangi (from Deewana). I thought I’ve become a big star… I woke up in the morning and I saw that she had died. She had fallen off from a window. It was one of the biggest shocks, because I think I was supposed to do another film with her.”
Following her death, theories and speculations of foul play began to circulate. However, Divya’s father firmly dismissed those claims, calling it a tragic accident.
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