Last rites of veteran Bollywood actress Sadhana Shivdasani were performed on Saturday at a crematorium in suburban Santacruz here where celebrities and family members bid adieu to the departed soul, according to the Times of India.
She was 74.
Film personalities like Helen, Salim Khan, Deepti Naval, Raza Murad, Poonam Sinha and others were present to pay their last respects.
The actress of a golden period in Bollywood films who was hospitalised for high fever, passed away at around 10 AM, Sadhana’s close associate and advocate Ameet Mehta told the Press Trust of India. One of the top actresses of Hindi film’s golden era in the 1960s and 70s, she became the first cine star to have a hairstyle famously named after her.
Born in a Sindhi family in Karachi, British India, she was named after her father’s favourite actress-dancer Sadhana Bose. Her father was the brother of actor Hari Shivdasani, father of actress Babita. The family fled from Karachi during the post-Partition riots and settled in Mumbai, The Times of India said.
In 1955, Sadhana featured in popular song ‘Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke’ in Raj Kapoor’s ‘Shree 420’. The report said she was only 15-year-old, when she was approached by some producers who had seen her act in a college play. They cast her in India’s first Sindhi film titled “Abaana” (1958).
Sashadhar Mukherjee, one of Hindi cinema’s major producers at that time, noticed her and she joined Mukherjee’s acting school. The Filmalaya Production banner thereafter introduced Joy Mukherjee, Sadhana and her trademark hairstyle in their 1960 romantic film ‘Love in Simla’. The film was declared a hit at the box office.
She continued to deliver unforgettable performances in films like ‘Parakh’, ‘Hum Dono’, ‘Ek Musafir Ek Hasina’, ‘Mere Mehboob’, ‘Woh Kaun Thi’, ‘Mera Saaya’, ‘Waqt’, ‘Arzoo’, ‘Intaquam’, ‘Ek Phool Do Mali’, ‘Geeta Mera Naam’ which she also directed. Sadhana was afflicted by a disorder of her eyes due to hyperthyroidism. After her retirement, she refused to be photographed simply as apparently she wanted to be remembered the way she was.