Remembering Sadhana: The 'Mystery Girl' of Bollywood

Born in Sindhi family in Karachi, Sadhana Shivdadasani was majorly referred to as das Sadhana. She was named after her father's favourite actress-dancer Sadhana Bose.Her family left Karachi during the post- partition rights to settle down in Mumbai. Sadhana is an alumnus of Auxilium Convent, Wadala and Jai Hind College, Mumbai.  Image Courtesy: twitter

As aspiring actress since childhood, in 1955 she played a chorus girl in the song 'Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke' in Raj Kapoor's Shree 420. She made her debut in India's first Sindhi film titled Abaana (1958), where she played the role of  Sheila Ramani's younger sister. Her first salary was a token amount of 1 rupee. Image Courtesy: twitter

It was Sashadhar Mukherjee, one of India's leading cinema producers then who was instrumental in creating her trademark look called 'Sadhana Cut'.The cut is inspired from the late actress Audrey Hepburn. Sadhana was considered a fashion icon and is also renowned for introducing the look of fashion tight chudidar-kurta from her super-hit movie Waqt. . Image Courtesy: twitter

She became popular with films like Bimal Roy's Parakh, Raj Khosla's Ek Musafir Ek Hasina and H.S.Rawali's Mere Mehboob. She is remembered for her intense performances in songs like 'Naina Barse' and 'Lag Ja Gale'.   Image Courtesy: twitter 

However, it was Raj Khosla's suspense thriller trilogy - Woh Kaun Thi (1964), Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967) as the lead actress that shot her to fame as the 'Mystery Girl'. Image Courtesy: twitter

Sadhana, though gave many hit films, was not awarded with any of the leading awards of the film industry. She married Love in Simla director Ram Krishna Nayyar which lasted for thirty years till his death. The couple had no children. Image Courtesy: twitter

Her on-screen chemistry was much appreciated with Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar. Her retreat from the mainstream Hindi cinema came because of health issues and her refusal to be cast as a side- actress. Image Courtesy: twitter