Divya Bharti emerged as the top choice for prominent filmmakers of Bollywood in the early 1990s. She cultivated a huge fan base because of her stunning looks and became one of the highest-paying actresses of her time. Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla-starrer Darr is one of the most iconic films of Indian cinema. However, most people don’t know that Divya Bharti was supposed to star in Yash Raj’s Darr.
Divya was the first choice of filmmaker Yash Chopra for his romantic drama but was later replaced by Juhi Chawla. In an old Filmfare interview, Divya’s mother Meeta Bharti revealed this interesting anecdote about her daughter. Divya’s mother revealed that her daughter was dropped from Darr because Aamir Khan preferred Juhi Chawla as the female lead. But later Aamir Khan himself was replaced by Shah Rukh Khan.
“Many people still think that Divya lost Darr because she had a problem with Yash Chopra. That wasn’t the case. When Sunny was signed, he wanted Divya opposite him. But Aamir wanted Juhi Chawla. Unfortunately, at the time, we were in America for some shows. Before we left they announced Darr with Sunny, Divya and Aamir. When we returned it was Sunny, Juhi and Aamir. It seemed that Aamir who was also working with Yash Chopra in Parampara managed to push Juhi and had Divya dropped. After he got Juhi into Darr, he was dropped and Shah Rukh was taken,” Meeta Bharti was quoted as saying.
It is worth noting that in an old interview with Stardust, Divya Bharti shared another incident involving Aamir Khan. Divya revealed that Aamir Khan had once refused to perform with her on their London tour. This incident shook her to the core and she cried for hours.
Divya made her acting debut in 1990 with the Telugu film Bobbili Raja. In 1992, Divya made her Bollywood debut with Vishwatma. In her career, Divya featured in several Hindi films such as Dil Ka Kya Kasoor, Shola Aur Shabnam, Deewana, Balwaan, Dil Aashna Hai, and Dushman Zamana among others. Divya’s career was cut short due to her untimely death in 1993.
