Remembering actress Sadhana 1941-2015

She began one of the major haircut trends. Remember Sadhna Cut? Yes, she's the one who began the trend.  Sadhana cut is inspired from Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn. 

One of the most prominent actresses of late 60's and 70's, Sadhana Shivdasani, popularly known as Sadhana, was born on 2nd September 1941 in a Sindhi family in Karachi, British India.

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. The family fled from Karachi during the post-Partition riots and settled in Mumbai. 

Sadhana aspired to be an actress since childhood. After spotting her doing a play at Jai Hind College, she was first approached for a role when she was 15. She was casted in India’s first Sindhi film titled Abaana (1958), where she played the role of Sheila Ramani’s younger sister. A token amount of 1 rupee was paid to her as compensation. On the set of the film, she asked the film's star, Sheila Ramani for an autograph. Ramani scribbled, "One day, I'll come and ask you for your autograph."

A photograph of her publicizing the film appeared in a movie magazine Screen. It was then that Sashadhar Mukherjee, one of Hindi cinema's leading producers at that time, noticed her. She joined Mukherjee's acting school along with her debutant co-star Joy Mukherjee, Sashadhar’s son. R. K. Nayyar, who had previously worked as assistant director on few films, directed this film. He also created her trademark look, called Sadhana cut, inspired from British actress Audrey Hepburn. The Filmalaya Production banner thus introduced Joy, Sadhana and her iconic hairstyle in their 1960 romantic film Love in Simla. The film was declared a hit at the box office and was listed in the top 10 films of 1960. During this period she would again work under the same banner opposite Joy in Ek Musafir Ek Haseena.

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. In 1961's other hit Hum Dono, she played the love interest of Dev Anand. 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. 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.

In 1964, she played a double role in the first of the suspense-thriller trilogy, Woh Kaun Thi? This white-sari-clad performance opposite Manoj Kumar earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. Through this role she got to be part of Lata Mangeshkar – Madan Mohan’s songs "Naina Barse" and "Lag Ja Gale". 

In 1965 she appeared in Aarzoo which was a superhit movie and popularised Sadhna cut and her tight salwar-kameez's

Raj Khosla cast her in two more successful mystery films, Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967) thus making her famous as the "Mystery girl”. The song "Jhumka Gira Re" sung by Asha Bhosle and composed by Madan Mohan saw Sadhana perform dance steps choreographed by Saroj Khan. 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.

Sadhana got her second Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the role of Meena in Yash Chopra's directorial saga Waqt (1965). She stood out in Bollywood’s first ever ensemble cast by bringing along the fashion of tight churidar-kurtas. The film proved to be 1965's "blockbuster hit”. Her other notable works in the 1960s include performances in Rajkumar (1964), Dulha Dulhan (1964), Gaban (1966) and Budtameez (1966).

In 1963, she did Mere Mehboob. One of the scenes from the film where Rajendra Kumar encounters Sadhna for the first time and sees her eyes through her burqa is considered as one of the most remarkable scenes in Hindi Cinema

 In 2014, 73 year old Sadhana made a memorable public appearance. Along with Ranbir Kapoor, she walked the ramp in a pink sari at a fashion show to support the cause for cancer and AIDS patients

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.