Little known facts of “Mystery Girl”-actress Sadhana

Little known facts of “Mystery Girl”-actress Sadhana

Sadhana was acknowledged as Bollywood’s “Mystery Girl” and notably as a fashion celebrity.

Deeply buried under the glossy surface, outwith all the dazzling world of glamour and neons, is a mantle in Bollywood stained by the blood, sweat and tears of myriad people who are now long consigned to oblivion.

Even as the “hard work” of those at the top is often highlighted and lauded, the hard struggles of many others rarely reach the public eye, simply because they didn’t succeed. They are blatantly judged as “failures” and subsequently ignored.

But history does not belong to the victors alone; it belongs to those who couldn’t finish the race as well.

And one such star, who once was on the top rung of the ladder in B’town eventually died a forgotten figure, was veteran actor Sadhana Shivdasani (identified as Sadhana), whose life was nothing short of a tragic anecdote.

Late actress and talk show host Tabassum emotionally once revealed to the media that when Sadhana departed to the ‘immortal” world at 74 in 2015. Tabassum wasn’t wrong. Not only had Sadhana’s health deteriorated by then, but she was also financially struggling, with none to support her. Both the industry and her so-called “fans” turned a blind eye to her, and Bollywood’s “Mystery Girl” took her last breath in desolation. Tabassum revealed that only a few from the industry, friends and relatives came to bid her farewell.

Karachi (Pakistan) born Sadhana to a Sindhi family, moved to India after the Partition in 1947, when she was just six years old. Later they moved from Delhi to Benaras(now Prayagraj) to Calcutta(Kolkata) before settling down in Mumbai in 1950.

In an 2012 article for Rediff.com author-columnist Dinesh Raheja quoted her “Main apne mohalle ki dada hua karti thi (I was a bully in my neighbourhood). I was a tomboy. I made the best maanja, and I would fly kites while an aide of mine would hold the firki.”

After settling in Mumbai, she was enrolled at the Auxilium Convent School in Wadala. “Even while in school, she had made up her mind that as soon as she finished her schooling, would become an actress and this she once told Star and Style magazine. With that firm dream, she finally joined the Filmalaya School of Acting, where she met director RK Nayyar — whom she later married — while he was preparing to direct Love in Simla (1960). It was Sashadhar Mukherjee, the owner of Filmalaya Studio, who spotted her in an advertisement and got her enrolled in the acting school.
Love in Simla, directed by RK Nayyar, whom she later married, gave Sadhana her first major break.
Interestingly, Love in Simla, which Mukherjee himself produced, marked the debut of both his son Joy Mukherjee and Sadhana as leading stars. While she had previously made an appearance in a song in Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420 (1955) as a child artiste, and in the Sindhi film Abana, it was Love in Simla that gave her her first major break. The film was a massive success, and her Audrey Hepburn-inspired “Sadhana fringe” became a trendsetter, establishing her as a fashion icon.

From Bimal Roy’s Parakh (1960) and Amarjeet’s Hum Dono (1961), where she featured opposite Dev Anand, to Krishnan–Panju’s Man-Mauji (1962) with Kishore Kumar and Raj Khosla’s Ek Musafir Ek Hasina which marked her reunion with Joy Mukherjee, everything she touched turned to gold. Of the 19 releases she had in the 1960s, a whopping 11 were reportedly hits. Thus, she quickly became a formidable force in Bollywood. In her early days, she was bound by a three-year contract with Filmalaya. She recalled she was paid Rs 750 a month for the first year, Rs 1,500 a month for the second year, and Rs 3,000 a month for the third year highlighting her rapid ascent to stardom.

Sadhana’s mother wanted to see her married to ‘someone like Rajendra Kumar’
Even at the peak of her fame, she maintained warm relationships with her co-stars, particularly Rajendra Kumar, with whom she worked in HS Rawail’s Mere Mehboob. She once shared that he often called her “Bhapa” (elder brother in Punjabi). Her mother even expressed a desire to see her married to “someone like Rajendra Kumar.” But by then, Sadhana had fallen deeply in love with RK Nayyar. In fact, Rajendra Kumar shared a close bond with both of them.
She once named Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Shammi Kapoor as her favourite heroes to work with. She also described Dev Anand, her Asli Naqli and Hum Dono co-star, as “like a charged battery — a mini dynamo.” “she couldn’t talk much about her female co-stars because she couldn’t make friends very easily. And even when she made friends, preferred the males to the females. Sitting and talking about household chores was not interesting to then. She hardly knew anything about it. So at parties and premieres, she was always with the male crowd,”this she revealed to Star & Style magazine

Amid all this, her love for RK Nayyar endured. They eventually tied the knot in 1966. She was friendly with Nayyar right from her first film, and though lost touch with each other for a couple of years in between, it was always only Nayyar for her. She remembered how her parents put their foot down and said no initially. After all, was just 17 when married him.”(RK Nayyar)

But her happiness was short-lived. In the late 1960s, she began battling hyperthyroidism. Not only did it affect her health, but it also forced her to step away from acting to begin treatment, costing her several roles that would have helped her soar more. Although a sport, she was hurt when director HS Rawail replaced her in Sunghursh (1968) without informing her. “After she signed Sunghursh, her thyroid problem cropped up. So called filmmaker Rawail and told him to sign another heroine. He dismissed it with ‘If he could wait so long for you for Mere Mehboob, can wait for Sunghursh too.’ However, five days later, she read a huge ad in the SCREEN newspaper declaring Vyjayanthimala as the heroine of the film. It hurt. She didn’t talk to HS Rawail thereafter.” Sunghursh featured legendary actor Dilip Kumar as the male lead.

News Edit KV Raman