Birthday Special: Us raat kya huva , kaise huva , kyon huva aur kisne kya kiya? BY ALI PETER JOHN

She had made a big splash in Telugu and Hindi films and within three years , she had worked in 16 films and most of them were big hits and she was tipped to be the next number one and was even the highest paid actress who had a long list of big films she had signed and would have ruled the industry within a few years or even just two years- Ali Peter John

But She had fallen in love.with the young and dynamic producer Sajid Nadiadwala who was not as big as he became later .

They had got married when she was 18 and had got converted to Islam and taken the name Sana and was OFFICIALY Mrs Sana Nadiadwala .

She was living in a building called " Tulsi" in an apartment which belonged to my friend Kulbushan Gupta who had made films like "God And Gun" and "Pardesi Babu" .

Divya Bharti ( that is her name which cannot be forgotten easily by anyone who knows anything about Hindi Cinema of the 80s ) was on the verge of signing her biggest film in which she was taking over the role which was to be played by Sridevi and she was to be teamed with Anil Kapoor.

She had signed the film and was in the seventh heaven , but had to continue shooting as she just had no time .

Kulbushan and I went to the "Hermes Villa" in Versova where she was shooting . She was bubbling with excitement when we congratulate her on her big achievement . That evening she left early as she had her own plans to celebrate .

She together with Sajid went for a long drive and met some of their friends in South Mumbai . She had taken to drinking when she was very young and that evening she was drinking as if there was no tomorrow.

She came back with Sajid to their apartment on the fifth floor of Tulsi building . With them were their close friends, the well-known hairdresser Neeta Lulla and her husband Shyam and the staff of Divya.

No one knew what happened on that night. All that was known was that Divya was sitting on the parapet of her apartment and drinking.

Kulbushan called me at 6 in the morning and told me that Divya Bharti was dead and her badly injured body was found in the compound of Tulsi Building and she was rushed to the Cooper Hospital where she was declared dead .

I have been to the morgues of different hospitals as it was my duty as a S.E O ( Special Executive OFFICER) but I never found a morgue looking so dirty and scary and I couldn't imagine the damaged and dead body of Divya Bharti lying on the floor with many other dead bodies.

It took hours to first clear all police affairs to get her body released and then it took more time to reconstruct her body and make it ready for her funeral at the Vile Parle Hindu Crematorium where a huge crowd had already collected .

Her body was dressed up like a Hindu bride and it was lit by Sajid, her father Mr Om Prakash Bharti and other close friends.

As her body went up in flames, there were all kinds of whispers and rumours about what must have happened on that night and who must have been responsible.

Sajid was a broken man and to add to his mesery , mourners looked at him with suspecting and curious eyes.

He had to be hospitalised after the funeral . There were some inquiries , but the Divya Bharti case was closed declaring it an accidental death .

MAUT NE DIVYA SE USKE SAARE SAPNE CHEEN LI THI AUR BAAKI RAKHA THA SIRF USKI YAADEN AUR KUCH SAWAAL JO AAJ BHI KAHI JAGA BHATAK RAHI HAI EK AATMA KI TARAH