Sadhana Shivdasani, known only by her first name, died in Mumbai on Friday at the age of 74. The cause of death was not known. A recluse in recent years, she was said to be suffering from an illness. Sadhana was famous for several films such as Love in Simla, Mere Mehboob, Woh Kaun Thi, Waqt and Inteqam. It was Yash Chopra’s film Waqt (1965) that created her persona as a modern young girl. Waqt was a cinematic landmark in several ways. It was the first multi-starrer for one thing — not just the leads, even the character actors were from the top rung, from Balraj Sahni to Rahman to Madan Puri and Surendranath. It was the first film to bring to the viewer the lifestyle of Bombay’s rich and famous in glorious color. And it set off several fashion trends, the most famous of them all being the body-hugging churidar-kurta ensemble worn by Sadhana, that became a rage among young women.
Bhanu Athaiya had designed the costumes in the film and given the men sharp suits and the women elegant clothes of the kind girls from well-off families would wear — a combination of the traditional and the modern. Sadhana’s outfit was particularly inspired and, soon, much imitated. It became the rage all over India. Sadhna was the quintessential 1960s heroine — sprightly and fashionable, outgoing but very feminine, much like Sharmila Tagore and Nanda. Sadhana had already set off one trend in the past — the fringe. Her first Hindi film director, R.K. Nayyar (whom she married later), drew inspiration from Audrey Hepburn and got Sadhana’s hair cut in the same style. The film was Love in Simla, in which she played a tomboyish girl in the first half who is then turned into a swan by her grandmother. The fringe came to be known as the “Sadhana cut”.
Born in Karachi, Sadhana Shivdasani was named after her father’s favourite actress, Sadhana Bose. After Partition, the Shivdasanis came to India and eight-year-old Sadhana was put in a Bombay school. The story goes that she was very interested in joining the movie business and played a chorus girl in the song Mud Mud ke Na Dekh. There is no confirmation of that. In 1958, barely 17, she made her debut in Abaana, a Sindhi film, playing the younger sister of her cousin Sheila Ramani. (Another cousin Babita was to join films some years later.)
Abaana got her noticed and she was picked up by Filmalaya boss Sashadhar Mukherjee who was planning to launch his young son Joy. The film, Love in Simla, was a hit and led to Ek Musafir Ek Hasina with the same hero. Her breakthrough role was as Dev Anand’s love interest in Hum Dono but it was Mere Mehboob (1963), that was her first big blockbuster. Set in a Muslim milieu, in a world of adaabs, burqas and sherwanis, Mere Mehboob scored big at the box office. Sadhana was now a bonafide star. She got roles opposite every famous male star of the time, from Shammi Kapoor (Rajkumar) to Sunil Dutt (Mera Saaya) to Manoj Kumar (Woh Kaun Thi?). Two back to back successes followed. Woh Kaun Thi was the first of the three “mystery woman” films made by Raj Khosla — Anita and Mera Saaya being the other two, and Yash Chopra’s Waqt. The song, Lag ja gale became her signature song at the time. She was nominated for a Filmfare award for her role, but curiously never won it in her career. Another hit song was Jhumka gira re from Mera Saya, which attracted repeat viewings from the front-benchers who used to throw coins at the screen when it came on.
Sadhana, along with her compatriots, pretty much ruled the 1960s, since no new faces emerged barring Mumtaz towards the end of the decade. In 1969, she came out with another winner, Inteqam, starring Sanjay Khan, in which she played a poor girl who takes revenge on a rich man who had falsely accused her of theft. Inteqam became famous one of the few times Lata Mangeshkar gave voice to a cabaret song — Aa Jaane ja… and also Sadhana’s drunk party song, Kaise rahoon chup. A thyroid condition kept her away from work and her last major film was Geeta Mera Naam (1974) which she also directed. Playing a kind of gangland boss, complete with whips and high boots, she tried to be an action heroine but the audience was not convinced. She then withdrew from acting and from public life, wanting her fans to remember her exactly how she had looked as a star, rather than see her playing mother roles.
After her husband, director R.K. Nayyar died in 1990, she was rarely seen in public, except with old film friends. All attempts for an interview were politely rebuffed though she spoke to the media during an ongoing litigation with her landlady Asha Bhonsle. For the countless women who aped her style and the men who remember sighing over her, the news of her death brought back memories of their own youth in darkened halls and the song that Dev Anand sang to her all those years ago, “Abhi na jao chhod kar, ke dil abhi bhara nahin.”
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