Divya was roped in to play the leading role opposite Anil Kapoor in the 1994 release ‘Laadla’. However, her untimely demise saw Sridevi step into the role. Raveena Tandon, who was also a part of the project, had told Mumbai Mirror, “The first shot was an emotional one for us because Sridevi had stepped into Divya Bharti’s shoes after her untimely demise. Divya, Shakti Kapoor, and I had shot a scene in Aurangabad where she fires us and throws us out of the office. While shooting the scene, Divya was constantly getting stuck on a particular line of dialogue and had to give several retakes before it was okay. Around six months later, we were shooting the same scene with Sridevi in the same office and it was so eerie because she was stuck on the same line. All of us on the set had gooseflesh and Shaktiji (Shakti Kapoor) suggested we chant the Gayatri mantra aloud. I held Sridevi’s hand as we said the prayers, then we broke a coconut and resumed shooting”.

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