Sadhana Shivdasani

Sadhana Shivdasani (2 September 1941 – 25 December 2015),^[1] known mononymously as Sadhana, was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the finest actresses of Indian cinema, Sadhana was noted for her exquisite beauty and trend-setting fashion statements. She was popularly known as "The Mystery Girl" for her stint as the "mystery girl" in the suspense thriller trilogy films directed by Raj Khosla during the mid 1960s.^[2][3]

Born in Karachi, Sadhana and her family migrated to Bombay during the partition of India when she was 7 years old. After making an uncredited appearance in Shree 420 (1955), Sadhana became the protègè of the director Sashadhar Mukherjee, who cast her in Love In Simla (1960), where her distinctive hairstyle became a rage and came to be known as "Sadhana Cut". Following this success, Sadhana went on to establish herself as a leading actress with films like - Parakh (1960), Hum Dono (1961), Asli-Naqli (1962), Ek Musafir Ek Haseena (1962), Mere Mehboob (1963), Woh Kaun Thi? (1964) and Arzoo (1965), Waqt (1965), Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967).^[4][5]

Sadhana's health deteriorated in the latter half of 1960s due to 

Early life

Born as Anjali Shivdasani in a Sindhi Hindu family in Karachi, British India on 2 September 1941, she was the only child of her parents Shivram Shivdasani and Lali Devi. However, as her father used to be a big fan of Bengali actress-dancer Sadhana Bose, he renamed his daughter as Sadhana at the age of 5. Her father was the elder brother of actor Hari Shivdasani, father of actress Babita.

The family migrated from

Sadhana aspired to be an actress since childhood. In 1955, she played a chorus girl in the song "Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke" in Raj Kapoor's Shree 420.^[7] When she was 15 years old, she was approached by some producers who had seen her act in a college play. They cast her in India's first Sindhi film titled Abaana (1958), where she played the role of Sheila Ramani's younger sister. She was paid Re 1 for this movie.

A photograph of her taken during the promotional shoot for the film

Besides 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. The film was a semi hit at box office and is known for the song "O Sajna Barkha Bahar Aai" sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Major breakthrough

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• 1961:
  colourised and re-released in 2011. Rediff.com in the film's review writes about Sadhana: "Her eyes, expressive and captivating, do most of the work, while she balances out her submissiveness with a firm tongue."^[12] The duet "Abhi na jaao chhodkar" from the film Hum Dono is regarded as "the most romantic song" by actor Shah Rukh Khan^[13] and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.^[14] Author Amit Chaudhuri in an essay comparing cultures, says that Sadhana's curious expressions in the song denote listener's peculiar ecstasy while in other cinemas it would mean sex or love.^[15]
• 1962: Asli-Naqli - In 1962, she was again paired with Dev Anand in Asli-Naqli by director Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film has two hit songs "Tujhe Jeevan Ki Dor Se", sung by both Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar and "Tera Mera Pyar Amar", sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The same year saw director-screenwriter Raj Khosla cast her opposite Joy Mukherjee in Ek Musafir Ek Hasina. She had debuted with Joy Mukherjee with the film Love in Shimla in 1960. Khosla would again work with Sadhana to make a suspense thriller trilogy.^[16]
• 1963: Mere Mehboob - This film was the highest grossing Indian film of 1963. The film stars Sadhana, Rajendra Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Nimmi, Pran, Johnny Walker and Ameeta. In this film, Sadhana played her first role in the technicolor film. The film Mere Mehboob was directed by H. S. Rawail. The song "Mere Mehboob Tujhe" was shot in the University Hall and in a couple of places, one gets to see the university. The song became very popular upon release. The opening scene of the film shows the famous residential hall and the associated hall "Victoria Gate". The film was the blockbuster of 1963, and ranked in the top 5 films of the 1960s.
• 1964: Woh Kaun Thi - In 1964, she played a double role in the first of the suspense-thriller trilogy;
  Lag jaa gale". Rediff.com called her a show-stopper "with an intriguing Mona Lisa-like smile". The film was a box office hit. Raj Khosla cast her in two more successful mystery films; Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita
  (1967) thus making her famous as the "Mystery girl".
• 1965 : Arzoo- Arzoo was a box office success, with Sadhana, Rajendra Kumar and Feroz Khan in lead roles. The film had songs like "Ae Phoolon ki Rani" sung by Mohammad Rafi and " Aji rooth kar ab", sung by Lata Mangeshkar.
• 1966: Mera Saaya - Mera Saaya was a box office success, a courtroom drama film, again saw her playing a double role, now opposite
  Madan Mohan saw Sadhana perform dance steps choreographed by Saroj Khan. Khan was then an assistant to dance director B. Sohanlal. The song became so popular that excited audience in cinema halls used to throw coins at the screen, and is one of the most requested songs on the radio. The film also had the classic songs "Mera Saaya Saath Hoga" and "Nainon Mein Badra Chhaye", both voiced by Lata Mangeshkar
  .
• 1965: Waqt- In this 1965 drama film, Sadhana appeared alongside Sunil Dutt. For her performance in this hit film, 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 first ever ensemble cast by bringing out the fashion of tight churidar-kurtas. The song has hit Hindi songs such as "Aye Meri Zohra Zabeen", sung by Manna Dey, "Hum Jab Simat Ke", sung by Mahendra Kapoor and Asha Bhosle, "Waqt Se Din Aur Raat", sung by Mohammed Rafi and "Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu", sung by Asha Bhosle. The film proved to be 1965's "blockbuster hit".
• 1967: Anita - In this 1967 suspense film, Sadhana appeared alongside Manoj Kumar with whom she had starred in lead role in the blockbuster film Woh Kaun Thi. This was the last film of the suspense-thriller trilogy of Khosla-Sadhana partnership.
• 1969: Inteqam - This film was directed by R. K. Nayyar, and stars Sadhana and Sanjay Khan in lead roles and supported by Ashok Kumar, Jeevan, Rajendra Nath, Rehman, Helen and Anju Mahendru. The film features the first cabaret number song "Aa Jaane Jaan", also a rarity through her career. The film was a success at box office and marked the return of Sadhana after her brief illness, and her husband directed the film.

Her other notable works in the 1960s include performances in

Gaban (1966) and Budtameez

(1966). Sadhana and Shammi Kapoor worked together in 4 films Rajkumar, Budtameez, Sachaai and Chhote Sarkar of which the first 3 were box office hits and the pair got good audience acceptance.

• 1964: Rajkumar - Rajkumar stars Sadhana,
  Rajindernath. The film was a box office success and has the hit songs "Aaja Aai Bahar", sung by Lata Mangeshkar, "Tumne Pukara Aur Hum Chale Aaye", sung by Mohammed Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur
  , "Tumne Kisi Ki Jaan Ko" and "Is Rang Badalti Duniya Mein", both sung by Mohammed Rafi.
• 1969: Sachaai - Sachaai stars Sadhana, Shammi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar, Helen, Johnny Walker and Pran. This film was a box office hit with songs like " Sau baras ki zindagi", sung by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle " Ae dost mere maine duniya dekhi hai", sung by Mohammed Rafi and Manna Dey and " Mere gunaah maaf kar" sung by Mohammed Rafi.
• 1969: Ek Phool Do Mali - This Indian Hindi film of 1969 stars Sadhana and Sanjay Khan in lead roles and has hit songs such as "Ye Parda Hata Do", sung by Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi, "Aulad Walo", sung by Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi, "O Nanhe Se Farishte" sung by Mohammed Rafi, "Saiyan Le Gayi Jiya", sung by Asha Bhosle and "Tujhe Suraj Kahoon Ya Chanda" sung by Manna Dey.

End of acting career

Sadhana had health issues due to her thyroid, which she got treated in Boston. After returning from the US, she starred in the successful movies Intaquam (1969), Ek phool do mali (1969), Sachaai (1969), Dil Daulat Duniya (1972) and Geeta Mera Naam (1974).

In

Feroz Khan. It was also Saroj Khan's first film as an independent dance director. The film did "above average" business at the box office.^[17]

After that, she retired from acting, as she did not want to be cast as a side-actress or do character roles.[7] Later, she and her husband formed a production company. She also produced the movie Pati Parmeshwar, starring Dimple Kapadia in 1989.^[18]

Personal life

Sadhana married her Love in Simla director Ram Krishna Nayyar on 7 March 1966.^[19][20] Their love blossomed on the film set. But as she was very young then, her parents opposed it. They were married for nearly thirty years, until his death in 1995 from asthma. The couple had no children. In 2013, she stated that she doesn't keep in touch with her first cousin Babita but does keep in touch with actresses such as Asha Parekh, Waheeda Rehman, Nanda, Shammi and Helen.^[21]

She suffered from eye problems due to hyperthyroidism. After her retirement from acting, she refused to be photographed.^[8] Living in Santacruz, Mumbai, she rented an apartment building owned by singer Asha Bhosle.^[22][23]

Legacy

Sadhana is regarded as one of the greatest actors of

Outlook India's "75 Best Bollywood Actresses" list.^[27] One of the highest paid actress of the 1960s, Sadhana appeared in Box Office India's "Top Actresses" list five times from 1962 to 1966 and topped twice (1965-1966).^[28]

Fashion icon

Sadhana introduced the fringe hairstyle in the Indian film industry in her first film Love in Simla. R. K. Nayyar, director of the film and her future husband, suggested the fringe style in order to make her forehead look narrower. Sadhana says: "They tried to stick a strip near the hair-line, but it didn’t work out."^[6] Nayyar then suggested she go for the fringe style as was then sported by the Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn.^[7][8][18] The fringe soon became popular and a fashion fad in the 1960s.^[1][29] The style was copied by girls in India and is still known by the same name.

Chandni Chowk To China (2009).^[32]

Sadhana is also credited with bringing into fashion the tight churidar-kurta.

salwar kameez to her director Yash Chopra for the 1965 film Waqt. Chopra felt insecure and thought that it would not be accepted. But Sadhana, with the help of her fashion designer Bhanu Athaiya showed him a sample, which he liked.^[6] The trend lasted well into the 1970s and can be seen, adopted by many actresses.^[33]

In a song sequence of "

AIDS patients. She was escorted by her relative, actor Ranbir Kapoor.^[35]

Death

During her later years, Sadhana was involved in court cases

K J Somaiya Medical College.^[38][39]

Sadhana died on 25 December 2015 in

Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai after being hospitalised with high fever.^[3] The illness she briefly suffered from was officially undisclosed,^[40] Sadhana was cremated at Oshiwara crematorium in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Bollywood stars such Anushka Sharma, Karan Johar, Madhur Bhandarkar, Lata Mangeshkar and several others expressed their sorrow at the loss.^[41][42]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1955	Shree 420	Chorus girl	Special appearance in song "Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh"	[43]
1958	Abana		Sindhi film	[44]
	Sahara
1959	Bus Conductor	Mala
1960	Love in Simla	Sonia	Debut as lead	[45]
	Parakh	Seema
	Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai			[46]
1961	Hum Dono	Mita
1962	Prem Patra	Kavita Kapoor
	Man Mauji	Rani		[47]
	Ek Musafir Ek Hasina	Asha
	Asli-Naqli	Renu
1963	Mere Mehboob	Husna Banu Changezi	Also playback singer	[48]
1964	Woh Kaun Thi?	Sandhya / Sandhya's twin	Double role	[49]
	Rajkumar	Princess Sangeeta
	Picnic		Unreleased	[50]
	Dulha Dulhan	Rekha / Chanda
1965	Waqt	Meena Mittal		[51]
	Arzoo	Usha
1966	Mera Saaya	Geeta / Raina (Nisha)	Double role)
	Gaban	Jalpa
	Budtameez	Shanta
1967	Anita	Anita / Maya
1969	Sachaai	Shobha Dayal
	Intaquam	Reeta Mehra		[52]
	Ek Phool Do Mali	Somna
1970	Ishq Par Zor Nahin	Sushma Rai		[53]
1971	Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee	Neena Bakshi
1972	Dil Daulat Duniya	Roopa
1973	Hum Sub Chor Hain		Special appearance
1974	Geeta Mera Naam	Kavita / Neeta / Geeta	Double role; also director
	Chhote Sarkar	Radhika		[54]
1975	Vandana	Rekha		[55]
1977	Amaanat	Suchitra		[56]
1978	Mehfil	Shalini / Ratnabai	Double role
1994	Ulfat Ki Nayee Manzeelein	Sadhana	Final film / Delayed release	[57]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result	Ref.
1965	Filmfare Awards	Best Actress	Woh Kaun Thi?	Nominated	[58]
1966			Waqt	Nominated	[59]
2002	IIFA Awards	Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Won	[60]

References

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External links

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