Not many remember that before Raveena Tandon lit up the screen in ‘Mohra’, it was Divya Bharti who had originally been cast in the film. She had begun filming alongside Suniel Shetty, but her sudden and tragic death cut that journey short. In a recent interview with Radio Nasha, Suniel recalled those brief days with Divya, praising her bold personality and natural talent. Her passing led to Raveena stepping into the role, and ‘Mohra’ would go on to become a defining film in 1990s Bollywood.
It has been more than three decades since the 1994 blockbuster, Mohra, starring Suniel Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah and Raveena Tandon, hit the theatres. While the film was a massive hit, for the actors, it holds some emotional memories, as this was the last time they got to work with the late actress, Divya Bharti, who was the original choice for the female lead. She even shot for five days before tragically passing away at the blooming age of 19. Her co-star, Suniel Shetty, remembered the late actress in his latest interview.
Suniel remembered his time on set with Divya at the Pahalgam jail location: “We shot at Pahalgam jail, but that girl was fearless. There were real convicts in the jail, yet she was absolutely fearless. Again, she was full of life and masti. Toh kahin na kahin Rajiv ko kaise hum sata sakte hain, Shabeer ko hum kaise sata sakte hain, humari planning wohi rehti thi (So, in one way or another, figuring out how to tease Rajiv and Shabeer—that was always our plan), how we could make people laugh and lighten the atmosphere. It was an absolute dream to work with her.”
