Golden Era of Bollywood: Remembering SADHNA on her 75 th Birth Anniversary

Friday 2 September 2016

Remembering SADHNA on her 75 th Birth Anniversary

Sadhana(2 September 1941^[1] – 25 December 2015), was an Indian actress who was one of the top actresses in the 1960s and the early-1970s, a period regarded as Bollywood's "Golden Era".She was famous for her Sadhna Cut Hair.The style that was copied by girls in India and is still known by the same name.

Sadhana aspired to be an actress since childhood. Her father helped her enter films. 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 made her debute in bollywood with Love in Shimla opposite Joy Mukharjee,R K Nayyar who later on married her was the director of this film. The film was declared a hit at the box office and was listed in the top 10 films of 1960.Before this she appeared in a Sindhi Film.

Song from Love In Shimla

Alongside Love in Simla, Sadhana was signed by acclaimed director Bimal Roy for his satirical film on Indian democracy, Parakh. She portrayed a simple village girl in this multi-award-winning film.

Song from Parakh

1961's other hit Hum Dono, she played the love interest of Dev Anand. The duet "Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar" from the film Hum Dono is regarded as "the most romantic song".After this film she became the darling of Indian Cine goers.

In 1962, she was again paired with Dev Anand in Asli-Naqli by director Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The same year saw director-screenwriter Raj Khosla cast her opposite Joy in Ek Musafir Ek Hasina. Khosla would again work with Sadhana to make a suspense thriller trilogy.

Song from Mere Mehboob

In 1963, Sadhana played her first role in a technicolour film Mere Mehboob directed by H. S. Rawail. The film was the "blockbuster" of 1963 and ranked in the top 5 films of the 1960s.

Songs from Woh Kaun Thi

In 1964, she played a double role in the first of the suspense-thriller trilogy, Woh Kaun Thi? ,Directed by Raj Khosla,This white-sari-clad performance opposite Manoj Kumar earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress.Later on Raj Khosla cast her in two more successful mystery films, Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita(1967) thus making her famous as the "Mystery girl".

Song from Mera Saaya

Mera Saaya, a box office "Super Hit" courtroom drama film again saw her playing a double role, now opposite Sunil Dutt. The song "Jhumka Gira Re" sung by Asha Bhosle and composed by Madan Mohan saw Sadhana perform dance steps choreographed by Saroj Khan. Khan was then an assistant to dance director B. Sohanlal. The song became so popular that excited audience in cinema halls used to throw coins at the screen, and is one of the most requested songs on radio.

Song from Mera Saaya

In 1965 Yash Chopra's Waqt released, She stood out in Bollywood’s first ever ensemble cast by bringing along the fashion of tight churidar-kurtas.The trend lasted well in the 1970s and can be seen to be adopted by many actresses The film proved to be 1965's "blockbuster hit",Sadhana got her second Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the role of Meena

Song from Aarzoo 1965

1965 was a very good year for Sadhna, this year another Blockbuster film Aarzoo was released.She was once again paired with Rajendra Kumar.Her other notable works in the 1960s include performances in Rajkumar (1964), Dulha Dulhan (1964), Gaban (1966) and Budtameez (1966)

After 1965 another golden year 1969 came in her life .She gave 2 Super Hits that year,Intaquam and Ek Phool Do Mali ,In Intaquam she played the role of a woman who revengefully allures the son of her own boss who cheated her to be put behind the bars for a crime she did not commit

Song from Intequam

In 1974 her directorial venture Geeta Mera Naam released. Produced by her husband, the film had herself playing the lead actress along with Sunil Dutt and Feroz Khan.This was her last hit movie after that she did very few movies.

Despite the fact that many of Sadhna's films fared very well at the box office, she appeared in very few movies (nearly 50).She was also not been awarded the best Heroine Award.For her contribution to film, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the IIFA in 2002

Sadhana died on 25 December 2015 in Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai after being hospitalised with high fever. Although the illness she briefly suffered from was officially undisclosed, a family friend confirmed Sadhana had cancer.

It would only be fair if we remember her for her contribution to Hindi cinema, her devotion to films and the woman she was. Here are some beautiful track which will be remembered forever.