Sadhana Biography

Those who have lived in the times of the 'Golden Era', will remember the film 'Woh Kaun Thi' for its story and for its songs. Well, the phrase 'Woh Kaun Thi' ideally fits for the actress who is still fresh in the memories of several audiences. It is none other than the beautiful Sadhana. She has acted in nearly 36 films in her career ranging from the mid 50s to the mid 90s and she also won the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was awarded by the International Indian Film Academy in the year 2002. She is also a well known fashion icon of her era of the 60s and is popular for a particular style of hairdo called as the 'Sadhana cut'. As an actress she is known to have acted in suspense thrillers.

Sadhana Shivdasani was born in the city of Karachi on 2 September, 1941 in an undivided India. Soon, the nation's partition forced her family to move to Mumbai. Her father, who is the brother of Hari Shivdasani, an actor, named her after Sadhana Bose, his favorite dancer - actress. Actress Babita is her cousin, who is also the wife of Randhir Kapoor. Till the age of 8 years, Sadhana was home schooled, but later, she studied in the Auxilium Convent in Wadala and completed her college from the Jai Hind College. She was married to R. K. Nayyar (Ram Krishna Nayyar), who was her 'Love In Simla' director, who passed away in 1995. She doesn't have any children.

Unlike many other actors and actresses of the period, she aimed to become an actress right from her childhood. She was also assisted by father to enter the industry. Her first act in the industry came with the song 'Mud mud ke na dekh mud mud ke', in 'Shree 420', where she was seen as a chorus girl. Her acting skills, noted by some producers in one of her college plays, landed her in a 1958 Sindhi film 'Abana'. She was given 1 rupee of token amount for her role. She was noticed by filmmaker Sashadhar Mukherjee, when he saw her on the front page of the 'Screen' a popular movie magazine. It was then, that Sadhana joined his acting school, where she met her co-star, also a debutant and son of Sashadhar Mukherjee, Joy Mukerji.

Her brand look called 'Sadhana cut' came into being at this time, which was inspired from Audrey Hepburn, a popular Hollywood actress of that time. It was the 1960 film, 'Love In Simla' by Filmalaya Production, that acted as a launch pad for her career. Her first film itself was a box office hit and gained a position in the top 10 Hindi films of the year 1960. The film was about a simple girl, who is helped by her grandmother to become a beautiful young girl to win the heart of the hero. Her next film 'Ek Musafir Ek Hasina', was from the same banner, where she starred opposite to Joy Mukerji.

She played a bit different role in the 1961 Bimal Roy film 'Parakh', which is a satire of the Indian democracy. The film was a hit and so another film of the same year, titled 'Hum Dono', where she starred opposite to actor Dev Anand. The song 'Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar' sung by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle, is a favorite 'Golden Era' tune, even today. In the following year, she was seen in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's 'Asli-Naqli' and Raj Khosla's 'Ek Musafir Ek Hasina'.

Her first technicolor film came in the year 1963, named 'Mere Mehboob' by H. S. Rawail, which was a hit blockbuster. In the film, the scene where Rajendra Kumar sees her for the first time and gazes at her eyes, is a remarkable one. In the following year, she was seen in the suspense thriller 'Woh Kaun Thi' by Raj Khosla, for which she was nominated for the Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress. Her songs from the film such as 'Naina Barse' and the heart rending 'Lag Ja Gale' are still loved. She starred in two more Raj Khosla suspense thriller films namely 'Mera Saaya' in 1966 and 'Anita' in the following year. The former one was a box office hit. The films gave some really memorable songs such as 'Jhumka Gira Re' and 'Tu Jahaan Jahaan Chalegaa, Mera Saaya Saath Hoga'.

Her next blockbuster came in the year 1965, with the Yash Chopra film 'Waqt'. Her churidar kurtas were a significant fashion statement for that era. This was her second nomination as the best actress in the Filmfare nomination. In the late 60s, she had some thyroid problems, for which she was flown to Boston for treatment. After her return, she was seen in films like 'Inteqaam' and 'Ek Phool Do Mali' (both 1969) and 'Geeta Mera Naam' in 1974. The film was directed by herself. In the same year she was seen in the films 'Chote Sarkar' and 'Vandana'. Then from the mid 70s till the mid 90s, she was seen in films like 'Amaanat' 'Mahfil', and finally in 1994 in 'Ulfat Ke Nayee Manzilen'.

Currently she lives in Santacruz in Mumbai and prefers to stay away from the media and Bollywood glam.