How Divya Bharti, Sajid Nadiadwala managed to keep their marriage a secret from her father for months

On Divya Bharti's birth anniversary, here's revisiting an episode from her life when she married producer Sajid Nadiadwala and managed to keep it a secret from her father, who was opposed to the match.

Divya Bharti died nearly 28 years ago but her short life and death under mysterious circumstances remains an enigma for many. Had she been alive, she would have turned 47 on Thursday. Here's revisiting a little known aspect of her life on her birthday.

Divya Bharti made her debut, aged 16, and died when she was only 19.

Divya was only 16 when she started working in films. Her first film was in Telugu, Bobbili Raja (1990). Her cherubic appearance and an energetic and dynamic presence made her an instant hit. In no time, she had worked with some of the biggest names in Telugu films - Venkatesh, Chiranjeevi and Mohan Babu. After two years, she made her Bollywood debut with Shola Aur Shabnam, opposite Govinda. Like a trailblazer, she went on to work with Sunny Deol, Shah Rukh Khan, Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor among top Hindi film heroes.

Yet none of this caused as much sensation as her marriage to producer Sajid Nadiadwala, when she was only 18. Such was the situation then that she kept her father too in the dark when she married Sajid.

Here's how it happened. In an old interview to Bollywood Hungama, her mother Meeta mentioned how her father, Om Prakash Bharti came to know of their marriage, months after it had been solemnised.

Meeta mentioned how her daughter had taken a liking to Sajid from the every time they met, which was on the set of her film, Shola Aur Shabnam. Sajid had been coming to meet Govinda, the film's hero, in a bid to convince him for a film. Meeta was quoted as saying: "Sajid used to visit Govinda on the sets of Shola Aur Shabnam for his dates, and he was introduced to Divya. The very day, she asked me, 'Mom, what do you think about Sajid?' I said I found him nice. After some days, she asked me if she could marry Sajid. I told her she should ask her father. And her father was against it. He had his own notions, and opposed the idea. Once Divya turned 18, one day she called me to tell me that she was marrying Sajid the very day, and wanted me to sign as one of the witnesses. But I told her I would not be able to come unless she informed her father about it."

Divya continued to live with her parents, occasionally meeting Sajid. Her father had no idea, whatsoever that his daughter had married without his consent. Then, after few months had passed, Sajid visited Divya's home for Diwali and announced their marriage.

Divya Bharti could not enjoy a long and fulfilling married life. Just 10 months after getting married to Sajid, she fell from the balcony of her fifth floor home and died. She was only 19.