Sadhana (1941-2015): She wanted to be remembered as 'khoobsurat'

Veteran Bollywood actress Sadhana, who passed away today at the age of 74, had chosen to stay away from the media glare as by her own admission she wanted to be remembered as the "khubsoorat" Sadhana

Sadhana is yet another example to the statistics of how the film industry largely doesn't really turn back to check on its people once they are past their prime and fade into the oblivion. Even though Sadhana enjoyed the position of being one of the most sought after actresses in '60s, she was easily forgotten once she decided to step into the shadows. Sadhana had chosen to stay away from the media glare as by her own admission she wanted to be remembered as the "khoobsurat" Sadhana. What she hadn't chosen, however, was that alone in her old age, she had a hard time struggling to keep her Santacruz home and she had to seek police protection for the same. Not many from the industry, except her old friends Helen and her family and Nanda came forward to help her.

Sadhana

It was in the '60s that beautiful Sadhana, along with being an actress to reckon with, was also a fashion icon. Her fringe, presumably simply done at the behest of director R K Nayyar (who she later married) to hide her broad forehead, went on to be imitated by millions of girls, famously called as Sadhana cut.

Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh, Raza Murad and Helen say their last goodbye. Pics/Sayed Sameer Abedi 

Born in Karachi, Sadhana might have been destined to be an actress, as her father named her after his favourite actress of '40s, Sadhana Bose. After making her debut in a sindhi film, Sadhana's big Bollywood break came in the form of 'Love in Simla', with Joy Mukherjee. Lore has it that she had to compete with another promising actress Asha Parekh to get the coveted role.

Sadhana. Picture courtesy: mid-day archives

Sadhana easily fit into the various roles that she was offered, from being a cotton saree clad teacher from a small town in 'Asli Naqli', a Muslim student in 'Mere Mehboob' or a rich modern girl in 'Waqt'. In the earlier phase of her career, Sadhana made a hit pair with Dev Anand (who can forget the utterly romantic 'Abhi Na Jao' song in 'Hum Dono' picturised on this couple?). However, later it was her onscreen chemistry with 'Jubilee' star Rajendra Kumar that was much talked about. The two stars were great friends off screen too.

Sadhana. Picture courtesy: Karan Johar's Twitter account

Interestingly, while Sadhana's endearing smile was considered an asset for her romantic roles, it also served another purpose. For some filmmakers, her smile held the mystery that was ideal for her to be cast in mystery thrillers. Her double role in mystery film, 'Mera Saaya', where she played two sisters, one homely and another a restless wayward character, turned out to be the highlight of her career. Her feisty dance performance on 'Jhumka gira re', is still one of the most memorable things about the actress’ career.

Shubha Shetty-Saha is the Group Entertainment Editor at mid-day and Dainik Jagran Group

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