Sanjay Leela Bhansali wishes Sadhana had seen ‘Bajirao Mastani’

Her body was taken to her residence in suburban Mumbai where Bollywood personalities, including a few former colleagues and friends, went to pay their last respects. In an interview, Waheeda Rehman revealed that the late star was eager to catch a screening of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s epic drama ‘Bajirao Mastni’, but sadly didn’t get to see it. According to Waheeda, Sadhana heard a lot about the Ranveer-Deepika-Priyanka starrer and called her up two-days ago to get the details about the film.

On hearing this news, director Sanjay Leela had only kind words and fond memories of the actress. However, his one regret was that he never had the chance to work with her in the film.

Talking about the actress Sanjay said, “Sadhanaji going away like this triggered off my childhood memories. The chawl where I lived would show Sadhanaji’s film Asli Naqli but only to the point where she came on to sing Lataji’s ‘Tera mera pyar amar’. As soon as she sang this melody, the film would end. I carry the image of her singing the number. According to me Sadhaniji was the epitome of beauty. She was so feminine and delicate. I love all her films from ‘Parakh’ and ‘Who Kaun Thi’ to ‘Mere Mehboob’ and ‘Raj Kumar’.

“In the 1970s there was Sadhanji in ‘Geeta Mera Naam’. Her dancing to the number ‘Suniye zara dekhiye na’ was to me the ultimate joy. Sadhanaji lit up every frame that she occupied. Sadly there wasn’t enough of her on screen. She did too few films and then just left the movies. In ‘Hum Dono Dev Aand Saab’ sang ‘Abhi na jaao chhod kar ke dil abhi bhala nahin’ to Sadhanaji. That’s exactly how I feel about her departure. Why did she have to leave so soon? I wish she had seen my ‘Bajirao Mastani’. She would have known that my treatment of Mastani’s beauty was an echo of what H S Rawail Saab did with her in ‘Mere Mehboob’. What beauty! What grace! There will never be another Sadhana.”