Sadhana: The effervescent fashion icon of Bollywood

Mumbai, Dec 25: One of the most charming heroines of the 1960s and early 70s, Sadhana was not just known for her versatility and effervescent beauty but she also became the first Hindi cine star to have a hairstyle famously named after her.

The 74-year-old actress passed away today at her residence in suburban Santa Cruz after brief illness. She is survived by a foster daughter.

Her prime career spanned over a decade-and-a-half but Sadhana worked with almost all the greats of the Hindi film industry of the time including Dev Anand, Joy Mukherjee, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Manoj Kumar. Her memorable roles include those in "Love in Simla", "Hum Dono", " Asli Naqli", "Arzoo", "Mere Mehboob", "Waqt" and "Woh Kaun Thi."

Born in a Sindhi family in Karachi, Sadhana Shivdasani was named after her father's favourite actress-dancer Sadhona Bose. Her father was the brother of actor Hari Shivdasani, father of actress Babita. Her mother home-schooled her till the age of eight.

Sadhana aspired to be an actress since childhood and it was her father who helped her gain entry into the films.

In 1955, she had her first tryst with Bollywood playing a chorus girl in the song "Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke" in Raj Kapoor's "Shree 420".

This song later went on to become a chart buster. She made her full-fledged big-screen debut with the first ever Sindhi film "Abana" in 1958.

She joined producer Sashadhar Mukherjee's acting school along with her debutante co-star and Mukherjee's son Joy Mukherjee. Sadhana married "Love in Simla" director RK Nayyar in 1966.

The romantic film also introduced the actress's iconic hairstyle, called 'Sadhana cut', apparently inspired from Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn.

In the film, which was declared a hit, Sadhana played the role of a simple, bespectacled girl who is transformed by her grandmother into a beautiful woman and encouraged to pursue the hero.

Following that, Sadhana played the role of a simple village girl in Bimal Roy's multi-award-winning film "Parakh".

PTI