Veteran actress Sadhana dies

Veteran actress Sadhana, who mesmerised audiences with her beauty and powerful performances in timeless hits like Hum Dono, Love in Shimla and Waqt, died on Friday at a hospital in suburban Santa Cruz here after a brief illness.

“She was admitted to the hospital day before yesterday due to high fever. She was okay... [Today] She had her tea in the morning at around 7.30 am and suddenly I got a call from her secretary at around 10 am that she collapsed and passed away. It was sudden and shocking... We were to meet her at 5 pm today. It’s sad,” Sadhana’s close associate and advocate Ameet Mehra told PTI. She is survived by a foster daughter.

Earlier, reports suggested that the 74-year-old effervescent actress died at her residence. Her last rites will be held on Saturday at a crematorium in Santa Cruz.

Sadhna Shivdasani, who popularised the fashionable “Sadhana cut”, was one of the top most charming leading ladies of the 1960s and 70s.

Although her prime career spanned over a decade-and-a-half, she was paired opposite all big heroes of her time, including Joy Mukherjee, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar and Dev Anand, with whom she shared screen space in Hum Dono and Asli-Naqli.

She also worked with top-notch directors of that era, be it Bimal Roy in Parakh or Hrishikesh Mukherjee in Asli-Naqli.

Her memorable roles include those in Love in Shimla, Hum Dono, Asli Naqli, Arzoo, Mere Mehboob, Waqt and Woh Kaun thi.

Born in a Sindhi family, Sadhana was named after her father’s favourite actress-dancer Sadhana Bose. Her father was the brother of actor Hari Shivdasani, father of actress Babita.

Home-schooled by her mother till the age of eight, Sadhana aspired to be an actress since childhood and it was her father who helped her to chase her dreams.

In 1955, she played a chorus girl in the song Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke in Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420. She joined producer Sashadhar Mukherjee’s acting school along with her debutant co-star and Mukherjee’s son Joy.

Filmmaker R.K. Nayyar, whom Sadhana married later, directed the romantic movie Love in Shimla starring Sadhana and Joy Mukherjee in 1960. The film also introduced the actress’ iconic hairstyle. In the film Sadhana played the role of a simple, bespectacled girl who is transformed by her grandmother into a beautiful woman and encouraged to pursue the hero.

Her remarkable double role in suspense thriller Woh Kaun Thi, opposite Manoj Kumar, earned her her first Filmfare nomination for best actress. She had acted in several mystery films, earning the nickname “Mystery Girl”. Not only her films, but even songs from her movies too are remembered, like Abhi Na Jaao Chodkar, Lag Ja Gale, Jhumka Gira Re, Tu Jahan Jahan Chalega, Mera Saaya Sath Hoga and others.

Sadhana retired from acting nearly four decades back as she did not want to be cast as a side-kick or do character roles and chose to lead a reclusive life away from the limelight.

Sadhana suffered from a disorder of her eyes due to hyperthyroidism. After her retirement, she refused to be photographed as she apparently wanted to be remembered the way she was.