Bollywood News Desk !!! Sadhana (English: Sadhana, born: 2 September 1941, Karachi; died: 25 December 2015, Mumbai) has been a famous actress of Indian cinema. She started her film career with the film ‘Abaana’. The fame and position that Sadhana got from English films is not hidden from anyone. Sadhana’s full name was ‘Sadhana Shivdasani’ (later Nayyar). She was the only child of her parents. Sadhana was also famous for her hair style, her hair cut style is known as ‘Sadhana cut’.
Sadhana’s father’s name was Shevaram and mother’s name was Laalidevi. Being the only child of her parents, Sadhana’s childhood was spent with great love. After the partition of India in 1947, her family left Karachi and came to Mumbai. At that time Sadhana was only six years old. Sadhana was named by her father after his favorite actress of the time ‘Sadhana Bose’. Sadhana completed her education at home till the age of eight. She received this education from her mother. Sadhana, who was liked in every household for her charming acting on the silver screen, was married to R.K. Nayyar, due to which she was also known as Sadhana Nayyar, but her name Sadhana remained more famous.
When Sadhana was a school student and used to go to a dance school to learn dance, one day a choreographer came to that dance school. He told that Raj Kapoor needs some students who can work in a group dance for his film. Sadhana’s dance teacher made some girls dance and Sadhana was one of the girls selected. Sadhana was very happy because she was getting a chance to work in the film. That film of Raj Kapoor was ‘Shri 420’. Rehearsals were held before shooting the dance scene. That song was ‘Ramaiya vasta vaiya…’ Sadhana used to participate in the shooting every day. Sadhana used to do whatever the choreographer said. The shooting went on for many days. Lunch and tea were provided and at the time of leaving, she was also paid in cash.
One day Sadhana saw that big banners of ‘Shri 420’ were put up in the city. The film was being released. In such a situation, no producer calls extra artists and chorus dancers for the premiere, so Sadhana herself bought tickets for herself and her friends. Actually, Sadhana wanted her friends to also see how she looks while dancing on screen. Sadhana reached the cinema hall with her friends. The film started. As soon as the song ‘Ramaiya Vastavaiya…’ started, Sadhana whispered to her friends, watch this song carefully, I have worked in this song. All the friends started watching the film with their eyes fixed. But the song ended and she was nowhere to be seen. Then the friends asked, hey, you were nowhere to be seen. Sadhana’s eyes filled with tears after hearing this. Little did she know that Raj Kapoor would cut her face in the editing of the film. But it will be called a coincidence that the same Raj Kapoor who had made Sadhana cry in her first film, played the role of hero with her in ‘Dulha Dulhan’ eight years later.
Film journey
In 1955, Sadhana got the role of a chorus girl in the song ‘Echak Dana Beechak Dana’ of Raj Kapoor’s film ‘Shri 420’. She was 15 years old at that time. Actually, Sadhana was given this opportunity by an advertising company for its producers. She got the opportunity to work in India’s first Sindhi film ‘Abaana’ (1958) in which she played the role of actress Sheela Ramani’s younger sister and she was paid a token amount of Rs 1 for this film. This beautiful Sindhi girl was spotted by Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was a very big filmmaker at that time. Sashadhar Mukherjee was looking for a new face for a heroine for his son Joy Mukherjee. In 1960, ‘Love in Simla’ was released. The director of this film was R.K. Nayyar. And he gave Sadhana a new look, “Sadhana Cut”. Actually Sadhana had a very broad forehead and it was covered with hair, that style was named “Sadhana cut”. Another “hit” film in 1961 was Hum Dono with Dev Anand. This B/W film was coloured and re-released in 2011. In 1962 she was again with Dev Anand in Asli-Naqli by director Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
In 1963, the Technicolor film ‘Mere Mehboob’ directed by H. S. Rawail was the blockbuster film of her film career. This film was also a blockbuster film of 1963 and was ranked in the top 5 films of the 1960s. In Mere Mehboob, Nimmi was initially going to play the role of Sadhana, but for some reason, Nimmi refused the role of Sadhana and played the role of Rajendra Kumar’s sister. Sadhana’s burqa scene is recorded in Indian Classic. In the year 1964, her double role film was released in which Manoj Kumar was the hero and the name of the film was “Woh Kaun Thi”. This character of a female ghost wearing a white saree became immortal in Hindustani cinema. Hindustani cinema also got a new villain from this film whose name was ‘Prem Chopra’. Sadhana also got her first Filmfare nomination as the best actress for her amazing acting.
The classic film Woh Kaun Thi is also remembered for Madan Mohan’s wonderful music and Lata Mangeshkar’s wonderful singing. “Naina Barse Rimjhim” is unmatched even today. For this film, Sadhana was called the ‘show dot’ with a smile like Mona Lisa. This film was a “hit” at the box office. In the year 1964, Sadhana’s name was associated with a hit film, this film was Rajkumar, the hero was Shammi Kapoor. Rajkumar was also a blockbuster film of the year 1964. In the year 1965, the multi-star cast film ‘Waqt’ was released, which was also a blockbuster of this year, in which stars like Raj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor, Balraj Sahni, Achala Sachdev and Sharmila Tagore were there. In ‘Waqt’, Sadhana wore a tight churidaar-kurta which no heroine had worn before this. The year 1965 brought another success for Sadhana. This year Ramanand Sagar’s “Aarzoo” was released in which Shankar Jaikishan’s superb music and Hasrat Jaipuri’s song written and sung by Lata Mangeshkar “Aji Rooth Kar Ab Kahan Jayega” created a sensation. Sadhana maintained her style even in the film “Aarzoo”. Sadhana did mystery films like ‘Mera Saya’ (1966) with Sunil Dutt and ‘Anita’ (1967) with Manoj Kumar. In both the films, Sadhana was the heroine in a double role and the music director was once again Madan Mohan.
The theme song of the film ‘Mera Saaya’, such as “Tu Jahan Jahan Chalega, Mera Saaya Saath Hoga” and “Naino Mein Badra Chaaye” still touches the heart. Choreographer Saroj Khan got a chance with Anita (1967). Saroj Khan was the assistant of the famous dance master Sohan Lal of those days, the song was ‘Jhumka Gira Re Bareilly Ke Bazaar Mein’, she gave voice to this song. [आशा भोंसले]]. In those days, when this song came on screen, the audience would go crazy and coins would shower on the screen and people would fight among themselves to loot them. The songs of this film were also written by Raja Mehandi Ali Khan. It is said that Sadhana was affected by evil eye due to which she developed thyroid. In the midst of her high film career, she went to Boston, America for treatment. After returning from America, she again returned to the film world and did many successful films. She acted in Inteqam (1969), a flower gardener, the hero of both these films was Sanjay Khan. Illness did not leave Sadhana, to hide her illness, she tied a bandage around her neck and often tied a dupatta around her neck, this became Sadhana’s icon and the girls of that era also took it as a fashion. In the year 1974, ‘Geeta Mera Naam’ was released which was her last commercial hit, the director of this film was herself and in this film too she had a double role. Sunil Dutt and Feroz Khan were the heroes. Many of Sadhana’s films were released very late. ‘Amanat’ was to be released around 1970 but it was released in 1975, by then a lot had changed. ‘Mehfil’ in 1978 and ‘Ulfat Ki Nayi Manzilein’ in 1994.
Sadhana married director R.K. Nayyar on March 6, 1966, who left her forever in 1995. Sadhana’s father was not happy with this marriage. R.K. Nayyar was an asthma patient. Sadhana did not have any children. Sadhana’s cousin Babita entered the film world. It is another matter that Babita was very much influenced by her sister. So she also adopted Sadhana’s style. Babita married film actor Randhir Kapoor and said goodbye to films. Sadhana was very serious about her film career.
For his contribution to English cinema, he has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) in 2002. His father’s role in many English films was played by his real uncle Hari Shivdasani, who is the father of actress Babita. Major films
In 1958, Sadhana did her first Sindhi film ‘Abaana’. She was 16-17 years old when she did this film. Actress Sheela Ramani was the heroine of this film and Sadhana played the role of her younger sister in this film. Her film ‘Sajan Ki Galiyan’ with Dev Anand could not reach the theatres and could not be released due to some reasons. Sadhana also acted in many art films. Apart from romantic and mysterious films, she was also appreciated a lot in art films. Her hairstyle is still known as Sadhana cut. Churidar kurta, Sharara, Gharara, big earrings, earring and captivating smile, all these have been the distinctive identity of Sadhana. Sadhana played double roles in four films. Sadhana’s most successful films include ‘Aarzoo’, ‘Waqt’, ‘Who Was She’, ‘Mera Saaya’, ‘Hum Dono’, ‘Vandana’, ‘Amanat’, ‘Ulfat’, ‘Badtameez’, ‘Ishq Par Zor Nahi’, ‘Parakh’, ‘Prem Patra’, ‘Embezzlement’, ‘Ek Phool Do Mali’ and ‘Geeta Mera Naam’.
Major protagonists
Sadhana’s major heroes include Joy Mukherjee, Dev Anand, Sunil Dutt, Manoj Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Firoz Khan, Shashi Kapoor, Kishore Kumar, Sanjay Khan and Vasant Choudhary. These days Sadhana does not come among her fans.
demise
Actress Sadhana died on 25 December 2015 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.