Raju Korti
Having watched most of her movies, I always believed that there was something surreal about Sadhana's million dollar smile and her eloquent eyes. Her eyes, coy and demure, especially spoke volumes that made the director's job ridiculously easy. But when I saw her in flesh and blood for the first time on the sets of Intequam in 1971, I had to retrace my steps in history to know that this was the Sadhana people swooned over all the sixties. Actually around time that she wasn't a patch on the Sadhana people had idolized in the past and there were many who had started writing her off.
Sadhana, who had had her education in Jai Hind College never went by popular equations or perceptions. She continued as long as she herself realized that people didn't wish to see her on the screen any more given the beatific image she had created in public mind. This trait of hers was in enough evidence even when it came to marrying, when she chose director RK Nayyar over a highly popular Rajendra Kumar. Nayyar was just making a name in the quick sands of film industry and Rajendra Kumar had made a very popular pair with her in Mere Mehboob (1963), Aarzoo (1965) and Aap Aaye Bahar Aayee (1971).
Sadhana did not wait and hope to be discovered rather she made herself so she couldn't be denied. Within a span of four years she was in the top bracket though there were formidable actresses like Waheeda Rehman, Saira Banu, Nanda and Asha Parekh who had created their own niche. Sadhana's USP was her eyes that did all the acting. She also owned a an angelic smile that made her a breed apart. Little wonder she was acting with top heroes of the times including Dev Anand and Rajendra Kumar.
Just what kind of impact Sadhana made on her audience is evident in popular perception on a handsome Dev Anand serenading with the last word in romanticism "Abhi na jao chhodkar,,," (Rafi-Asha) could not have been as compelling if any other actress was alongside. Hum Dono had not only Dev Anand focusing the camera on himself, it had another share of pie for Nanda whose role was equally challenging. Yet, Sadhana made an impression with just smiles and tears.
She fortified her position with Mere Mehboob which brought her in the top league. Remember a sleepy-eyed Husna whom Rajendra Kumar wakes up through the enchanting notes of Piano and the eternally young voice of Rafi with "Ae husn zara jaag tuzhe ishq jagaaye..". Not without reason, the general belief is Sadhana looked her beautiful best in Mere Mehboob.
While the first half of her life got her name, fame and money, the latter half wasn't so rewarding. Age doesn't spare anyone. In case of Sadhana, it just gave her that little extra time because anything otherwise would have been blatantly unjust to a performer who swept an audience away by just fluttering her eyelids or with that devastating, cherubic smile.
By Intequam, she was downhill and the writing was almost on the wall. Even in Aap Aaye Bahar Aayee , she looked slightly obese and a little over made up and the make up was failing. To add to her troubles, the marriage with Nayyar was threatening to fall apart. Not mixing her personal life with professional life, she bravely carried on until she made peace with the fact that her reign was over.
At her Santacruz residence, she started living the life of a recluse. Like many other actresses and actors who do not want to be seen by people except in their avtaars as popular peak, she just shut the doors on the society, rarely meeting people, unlike her contemporary Waheeda Rehman who ventures out for social work in her late seventies. I still want to be remembered as an actress who sang "Main to tum sang nain milaa ke haar gayee sajna.." in Manmauji (with Kishore Kumar). To be fair to her, shejust went through the same motions that most film stars not wanting to face people past their prime. As an actress she had her fantasies but she also knew she was a fantasy herself.
As she makes her exit from a profession without any guarantees, she almost seems to say: "I always am in a role, lovely – for you, for them – even for myself. Yeah... Even when I’m alone, I am still in a role – and I myself am the most exacting audience I have ever had.” But all that her fans can say is "Adhoori aas chhodke, adhoori pyaas chhodke jo tum joagi to kis tarah nabahogi..."
Sadhana, who had had her education in Jai Hind College never went by popular equations or perceptions. She continued as long as she herself realized that people didn't wish to see her on the screen any more given the beatific image she had created in public mind. This trait of hers was in enough evidence even when it came to marrying, when she chose director RK Nayyar over a highly popular Rajendra Kumar. Nayyar was just making a name in the quick sands of film industry and Rajendra Kumar had made a very popular pair with her in Mere Mehboob (1963), Aarzoo (1965) and Aap Aaye Bahar Aayee (1971).
Sadhana did not wait and hope to be discovered rather she made herself so she couldn't be denied. Within a span of four years she was in the top bracket though there were formidable actresses like Waheeda Rehman, Saira Banu, Nanda and Asha Parekh who had created their own niche. Sadhana's USP was her eyes that did all the acting. She also owned a an angelic smile that made her a breed apart. Little wonder she was acting with top heroes of the times including Dev Anand and Rajendra Kumar.
Just what kind of impact Sadhana made on her audience is evident in popular perception on a handsome Dev Anand serenading with the last word in romanticism "Abhi na jao chhodkar,,," (Rafi-Asha) could not have been as compelling if any other actress was alongside. Hum Dono had not only Dev Anand focusing the camera on himself, it had another share of pie for Nanda whose role was equally challenging. Yet, Sadhana made an impression with just smiles and tears.
She fortified her position with Mere Mehboob which brought her in the top league. Remember a sleepy-eyed Husna whom Rajendra Kumar wakes up through the enchanting notes of Piano and the eternally young voice of Rafi with "Ae husn zara jaag tuzhe ishq jagaaye..". Not without reason, the general belief is Sadhana looked her beautiful best in Mere Mehboob.
While the first half of her life got her name, fame and money, the latter half wasn't so rewarding. Age doesn't spare anyone. In case of Sadhana, it just gave her that little extra time because anything otherwise would have been blatantly unjust to a performer who swept an audience away by just fluttering her eyelids or with that devastating, cherubic smile.
By Intequam, she was downhill and the writing was almost on the wall. Even in Aap Aaye Bahar Aayee , she looked slightly obese and a little over made up and the make up was failing. To add to her troubles, the marriage with Nayyar was threatening to fall apart. Not mixing her personal life with professional life, she bravely carried on until she made peace with the fact that her reign was over.
At her Santacruz residence, she started living the life of a recluse. Like many other actresses and actors who do not want to be seen by people except in their avtaars as popular peak, she just shut the doors on the society, rarely meeting people, unlike her contemporary Waheeda Rehman who ventures out for social work in her late seventies. I still want to be remembered as an actress who sang "Main to tum sang nain milaa ke haar gayee sajna.." in Manmauji (with Kishore Kumar). To be fair to her, shejust went through the same motions that most film stars not wanting to face people past their prime. As an actress she had her fantasies but she also knew she was a fantasy herself.
As she makes her exit from a profession without any guarantees, she almost seems to say: "I always am in a role, lovely – for you, for them – even for myself. Yeah... Even when I’m alone, I am still in a role – and I myself am the most exacting audience I have ever had.” But all that her fans can say is "Adhoori aas chhodke, adhoori pyaas chhodke jo tum joagi to kis tarah nabahogi..."
