The most popular actress Sadhana breathed her last, at the ripe old age of 74, on this Christmas day (25th Sept, 2015) at 11.30 am in Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai. Her funeral procession had started from her residence in Sangeeta Bungalow, Ram Krishna Mission Road, Santacruz (W), Mumbai and she was then cremated in Mahim Creamatorium. On hearing the news of her sad demise, it was her closest friends Waheeda Rehman, Helen & Shaina N. C. who were the 1st ones to reach her residence to pay their last respects. Incidentally speaking Sadhana was not keeping well for quite sometime. And then there were also rumors doing the rounds that she had tumors too.
Its time now to take a nostalgic trip down memory lane to take a peekaboo at Sadhana’s illustrious & checkered filmic journey from black & white to color era.
Sadhana (Shivdasani) was born on 2nd Sept, 1941 in Karachi, Sindh before partition. Hailing from a Sindhi family she was named as Sadhana after her father’s favorite actress -dancer Sadhana Bose. Her father was also the brother of actor Hari Shivdasani, who also happened to be the father of actress Babita. The Shivdasani family had fled from Karachi during the post partition riots and then settled down in Mumbai. Sadhana’s mother had home schooled her until she was 8 years old after which she studied at Auxilium Convent, Wadala, Mumbai & Jai Hind College, Mumbai.
Right since Sadhana was that high she had always aspired to be an actress. In fact it was her father who had helped her to enter films. So in 1955, when she was just 15 year’s old she played a chorus girl in the song “Mur Mur Ke Na Dekh Mur Mur Ke” in Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420. And then a few years after this chorus girl phase she was approached by some producers who had also seen her act in a college play. So one of the producer had cast her in India’s 1st Sindhi film titled Abaana, this was in the year 1958, where she played the role of Sheila Ramani’s, a top actress of her time, younger sister. And at that time Sadhana was paid a token amount of just 1 rupee.
Next when a photograph of hers, publicizing the Sindhi film, appeared in a movie magazine Screen, Sashadhar Mukherjee, one of Hindi cinema’s major producers at that time, noticed her. She then also joined Sashadhar Mukherjee’s acting school along with her débutante co – star Joy Mukherjee, who was Sashadhar Mukherjee’s son. R. K. Nayyar, who had previously worked as assistant director on a few films, directed Sadhana & Joy Mukherjee’s debut film Love In Shimla. Director R. K. Nayyar had also created her trademark look, called Sadhana cut, inspired from Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn. The Filmalaya Production banner thus introduced Joy Mukherjee & Sadhana and her iconic hairstyle in their 1960’s romantic film Love In Simla. The film was declared a runaway hit at the box office turnstiles and was also listed in the top 10 films of the year 1960. In this film Sadhana had played the role of a simple, bespectacled girl who is transformed by her grandmother into a beautiful woman and encouraged her to pursue the hero. In the film, Sadhana also wins a beauty contest and is awarded a 3 year film contract with Filmalaya, which was the case in real life too. During this period she had again worked under the same banner opposite Joy Mukherjee in Ek Musafir Ek Haseena.
Alongside Love in Simla, Sadhana was signed by acclaimed director Bimal Roy for his satirical film on Indian democracy, Parakh. She portrayed a simple village girl in this multi -award winning film. In 1961 in another hit Hum Dono Sadhana had played the love interest of Dev Anand. This black & white film was colourized and re – released in 2011. Even some hardcore critics then were of the opinion that Sadhana’s eyes, were very expressive & very captivating, doing most of the work, while she balanced out her submissiveness with a firm tongue. The Mohammed Rafi – Asha Bhosle duet “Abhi Na Jaao Chodkar” still remains evergreen. In 1962, Sadhana was again paired with Dev Anand in Asli Naqli by director Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The same year saw director – screenwriter Raj Khosla cast her once again opposite Joy Mukherjee in his musical film Ek Musafir Ek Hasina. Raj Khosla worked again with Sadhana to make their famous suspense thriller trilogy.
Then in 1963, Sadhana played her 1st role in a technicolour film Mere Mehboob directed by H. S. Rawail. The film proved to be the “Blockbuster” of 1963 and ranked in the top 5 films of the 1960’s. The scene where Rajendra Kumar encounters Sadhana for the 1st time and sees her eyes through her burqa stands as one of the most remarkable scenes of the Hindi film industry. And one of the notable actor Danny Denzongpa had also described the visage of Sadhana in a burqa with just her eyes visible as “unforgettable.”
In 1964 Sadhana played her remarkable double role in the 1st of the suspense thriller trilogy, Woh Kaun Thi?. This white sari clad performance opposite Manoj Kumar earned her, her 1st Filmfare nomination as “Best Actress”. Through this role Sadhana also got to be a part of Lata Mangeshkar – Madan Mohan’s all time classic songs like “Naina Barse” & “Lag Ja Gale”. Once again the hardcore critics called her a show stopper “with an intriguing Mona Lisa – like smile”. This film was a also a box office “Hit”. So much so that Raj Khosla cast her in 2 more mystery films namely Mera Saaya (1966) & Anita (1967) thus making her famous as the “Mystery girl”. Mera Saaya, a box office “Super Hit” courtroom drama film again saw her playing a double role, now opposite Sunil Dutt. The song “Jhumka Gira Re” sung by Asha Bhosle and composed by Madan Mohan saw Sadhana perform dance steps choreographed by Saroj Khan, who was then an assistant to choreographer Sohanlal. The song became so popular that excited audiences in cinema halls used to throw coins at the screen. The film also had the classic songs “Naino Mein Badara Chhaye” and the haunting theme song “Tu Jahan Jahan Chalega, Mera Saaya Saath Hoga”, both voiced by Lata Mangeshkar.
Sadhana got her second Filmfare nomination as “Best Actress” for the role of Meena in Yash Chopra’s directorial saga Waqt (1965). She stood out in Bollywood’s 1st ever ensemble cast by bringing along the fashion of tight chudidar – kurtas, a trend followed by other actresses too. The film proved to be 1965’s “Blockbuster”.
All of a sudden Sadhana started having health issues due to her thyroid, which she got treated at a hospital in Boston. After returning from US, she starred in successful movies like Intaquam (1969), Ek Phool Do Mali (1969) & Geeta Mera Naam (1974), which she also directed. In Intaquam she played the role of a woman who allures the son of her own boss who cheated her to be put behind the bars for a crime he did not commit, for revenge.
After that, she retired from acting as she did not want to be cast as a side actress or do character roles. Later on, Sadhana and her husband R. K. Nayyar, with whom she had tied the knot earlier in her career, formed a production company. She also directed a movie starring Dimple Kapadia in 1989.
Sadhana married her Love In Simla director Ram Krishna Nayyar on 7 Mar, 1966. Their love had blossomed on a film set. But as she was very young then, her parents opposed it. They were married for nearly 30 years, until his death in 1995 from asthma. The couple had no children. Sadhana had also suffered from a disorder of her eyes due to hyperthyroidism. After her retirement, Sadhana had refused to be photographed simply because she wanted to be remembered the way she was. Since then she had lived in Santacruz, Mumbai as a tenant in an apartment building owned by singer Asha Bhosle. In 2013, she stated that she doesn’t keep in touch with her cousin Babita but does keep in touch with actresses Asha Parekh, Waheeda Rehman, Nanda (who passed away in 2014) & Helen.
By the way some of her other noteworthy films were Prem Patra 1962, Man Mauji 1962, Rajkumar 1964, Picnic 1964, Dulha Dulhan 1965, Arzoo 1966, Gaban 1966, Budtameez 1967, Stree (Her one and only one Oriya film) 1969, Sachaai 1969, Ishq Par Zor Nahin 1971, Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee 1972, Dil Daulat Duniya 1973, Hum Sab Chor Hain 1972, Chhote Sarkar 1974, Vandana 1975, Amaanat 1981, Mehfil 1994, Ulfat Ki Nayee Manzeelein et al.
All in all Sadhana, was an Indian actress who was one of the top stars in the 1960’s and the early 1970’s.
But sadly enough, as mentioned earlier, the curtains finally came down on the beautiful & remarkable actress’ life span on 25th Dec, 2015.