Sadhana (actress)

Infobox actor
name = Sadhana


caption = Sadhana in film, "Ek Musafir Ek Hasina" (1962)
image_size = 250px
birthname = Sadhana Shivdasani
birthdate = Birth date and age|1941|9|2|
birthname = Sadhana Shivdasani
location =Karachi, Sind, Pakistan
yearsactive = 1958 to 1977 , 1994 (Retired)
occupation = Actress
spouse = R. K. Nayyar (1966 - 1995) (His Death)
notable role = Husna in
"Mere Mehboob"
Sandhya/Seema in
"Woh Kaun Thi?"
Meena Mittal in
"Waqt"
Geeta/Nisha (Raina) in
"Mera Saaya"|

Sadhana (Sindhi:ساڌھنا, born September 2, 1941 in Karachi, Sind, Pakistan) is a popular Indian Bollywood actress. Her cousin was actor Hari Shivdasani (father of actress Babita).

Early life

Sadhana was born in 1941 in Karachi, the only child of Shivdasanis, a Sindhi Family. Her mother schooled her at home until she turned 8 year. They fled to Mumbai after the partition of India in 1947.

Early career

Hari helped Sadhana enter films. She was a chorus girl in Raj Kapoor's "Shree 420" in 1955. She played a second lead in a Sindhi film called "Abana" (1958), which got her noticed and entry to an acting school. The school was run by film producer Sashadhar Mukherjee, and also had another aspiring actress named Asha Parekh as a student. When Mukherjee was casting "Dil Deke Dekho" (1959), he gave director Nasir Hussain a choice between Sadhana and Asha to play the heroine; Hussain chose Asha.

However, for his next project, "Love in Simla" (1960), Mukherjee again gave his director, R.K. Nayyar (Raj Kapoor's assistant) a say in who should play the heroine. Nayyar chose Sadhana, and she was paired with Mukherjee's own son Joy Mukherjee in the film. During the making of the film, Sadhana and director R.K. Nayyar fell in love, and married in 1966.

Film career

R.K. asked Sadhana to style her hair with a fringe (like Audrey Hepburn); this hairstyle later became a craze and is still referred to as the "Sadhana cut" in India [ [http://www.bollywood501.com/classic_f/sadhana/index.html Sadhana Resource page and photo galleries] Evergreen Actress of Bollywood Past, www.bollywood501.com.] .

Sadhana's film "Mere Mehboob" (1963) with Rajendra Kumar was one that helped make her career and is said to have some of her most beautiful closeups in early Technicolor. However, it was Raj Khosla's "Woh Kaun Thi?" (1964) which really became a landmark in her career and gave her the image of the "mystery girl," where her spellbinding performance kept everyone guessing to the very end. The film became a huge hit and earned her her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. Khosla was so enthralled with her performance that he would cast her in two more big-budget mystery films, "Mera Saaya" (1966) and "Anita" (1967). She would earn her second Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the blockbuster "Waqt" (1965), where she set another fashion trend with her tight churidar kurtas.

In the late 1960s, a thyroid problem affected her eyes, marring her looks. She went to Boston for treatment and made a successful recovery, but film offers had dried up. She delivered only three hits in the period, with "Inteqaam" (1969), "Ek Phool Do Mali" (1969), and "Geeta Mera Naam" (1974), which she also directed. Then, she quit acting, saying that she wanted her fans to remember as a young, beautiful leading lady. She and her husband formed a production company afterwards.

Personal life

She lost her husband after two decades of marriage, and had miscarriages. She now lives alone and does not like to be photographed. However, in 2006, Asha Parekh revealed that she, Sadhana and other 1960s stars like Nanda, Shammi, Waheeda Rehman get together for lunch to ease the loneliness and enjoy each other's company.

Filmography

(1978 in film (1978) "(Mehfil) "

References

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/fareeha7/sadhana1.html 'Sadhana - A Tribute']
*
* [http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/feb/11dinesh.htm A detailed biography]
* [http://www.mid-day.com/smd/eat/2002/september/30207.htm Eat - Sadhana’s cut] Sadhana talks about her favorite food and gives a recipe on a Sindhi dish.
* [http://www.bollywood501.com/classic_f/sadhana/index.html Resource page on Sadhana and photo galleries]