It seemed destined from the day she was born. Born in a family of film fanatics, Sadhana was named after her father’s favourite celluloid idol Sadhana Bose, a Bengali actress who gained prominence during 1930s & 40s. Starting her career in post partition India, Sadhana’s first tryst with cinema was a Sindhi film Abana (1958) as a teenager, and her performance was noticed by noted producer of that era, Subodh Mukherjee.
Her initial few years in cinema were sort of a mix-bag where her ‘fresh’ appearance (the fringe on her forehead/“Sadhna Cut”) and radiant beauty was noticed in films like Love in Simla, Hum Dono, Asli-Naqli, Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (all between 1960-62), but she was unable to stamp her authority on screen.
1963 proved to be the breakthrough year for Sadhana as Mere Mehboob and Woh Kaun Thi? provided her with ample scope to prove her on-screen mettle. Mere Mehboob was one of the earliest films in Technicolor, but almost paradoxically being set in the conservative milieu of Aligarh had its leading lady Husna (Sadhana’s screen name) wearing the burkha, through which only her eyes or face was visible. Close-up of her lovely face enchanted the audience, and her ability to emote with her eyes created an aura around her on-screen persona. This mystique was further heightened by her double-role performance in Raj Khosla’s thriller Woh Kaun Thi. Playing the vivacious heroine and the spooky ghost-like figure out to lure Manoj Kumar to end his life in the same film helped her to gain footing in the industry as an able actor.
But more than an actor, Sadhana was revered as a style icon for the youth of that era. Her fringe look, modelled on Audrey Hepburn, necessitated by her broad forehead that her first producer Subodh Mukherjee considered as her ‘flaw’, and her hip tight churidar kurtas were an absolute rage. Throughout the 60s she ruled the roost with powerful performances in Waqt (1965), Mera Saaya (1966), Ek Phool Do Mali (1969) amongst many others which scored full marks at the Box Office. In between she also got married to her long time beau RK Nayyar, the man who directed her debut Hindi film Love in Shimla.
But by the late 60s, Sadhana developed a thyroid disorder which affected her health, and also her facial features. Post-treatment she did a few films and managed to direct one as well (Geeta Mera Naam) but her reluctance to work long hours and her health condition made her take a step back and introspect. By the end of the 70s, she was convinced that she didn’t want to act any more – she famously said she wants to stay in her fans hearts as a young and beautiful woman and not as an ageing queen – and effectively ended her career. Through the span of two odd decades she did 25 films, off which 19 were blockbusters of that age.
In 2002, IIFA awarded Sadhanaji with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Indian cinema. Needless to say, it was deserved and IIFA is proud to associate itself with someone so graceful like Sadhanaji.
