Sadhana - The Story of Famous "Sadhana Cut'

 . 

No doubt she was a Style icon of the 60s. Her hairstyle and her dresses were copied by the girls. There was a time when mothers taking their little girls to the hairdresser for a ‘Sadhana cut'. She created a fashion of the fusion churidar-Kurtis and Mojris she wore in Waqt(1965). In an interview, Sadhana told about her famous Sadhana Cut Hairstyle.

She narrated how she got the famous ‘Sadhana fringe’. “I had a broad forehead, which showed prominently in photo tests. It would then be covered with a patch of hair. When we were about to start Love In Simla, the director RK Nayyar said the patch wouldn’t do. Those days Audrey Hepburn’s Roman Holiday (in which she sports a fringe) had just released. So I was promptly rushed off to a Chinese hairdresser and given a fringe.

Regarding her Churidar Kurtas, she told that she wore those conventional Kurtas in the 1963 film Mere Mehboob which were liked by the girls but she now wanted some changes in her wardrobe. She asked Bhanu Athaiya, the Oscar-winning costume designer to create a fusion of the traditional churidar and modern Kurti for my personal wardrobe. One day Yashji (Chopra) happened to come home to discuss my costumes in Waqt when I walked in wearing a sleeveless, gold-embroidered Kurti, churidar, and Mojris and a chic hairstyle, he went, ‘Wow! What you’re wearing is exactly what I want for my film.’ “The style went on to become a craze.”

Sadhana (2 September 1941– 25 December 2015) started her career with a Sindhi film titled

 Abaana (1958) playing the sister's role of the heroine. Very few know that In 1955 she got her first little break. She played a chorus girl in the song "Mud mud ke na dekh... mud mud ke" in Raj Kapoor's Shree 420. She got her first Hindi film Love In Simla released in 1960 but she played a simple girl in her next film Parakh of Bimal Roy. Recall the popular song of this film 'O Sajna Barkha Bahar Aayi'. 

In 1961's other hit, Hum Dono released, she played the love interest of Dev Anand.  The song 'Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar' remains the most romantic song to date. In 1962, she was again paired with Dev Anand in Asli-Naqli by director Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The same year saw director-screenwriter Raj Khosla cast her opposite Joy in Ek Musafir Ek Hasina. Khosla would again work with Sadhana to make a suspense thriller trilogy  Woh Kaun Thi 1964,  Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967) thus making her famous as the "Mystery Girl". Sadhana was the highest-paid actress of her time. During a career spanning over two decades, Sadhana starred in over 30 films.   

Sadhana got married to R K Nayyar, the director of her first film in 1966. After marriage, Sadhana worked sporadically and went on to do Ek Phool Do Mali, Intaqam , and Geeta Mera Naam (she even directed it). She quit after Geeta Mera Naam. she was not keeping good health (she was suffering from a thyroid disorder). She was diagnosed with cancer in her old age that led her to her death on 25 December 2015. 

Many classic songs were picturized on her, here are a few

Song of Parakh 1960

Song of Hum Dono 1961

Song of Asli Naqli 1962

Song of Mere Mehboob1963

Song of Woh Kaun Thi 1964

Song of Rajkumar 1964

Song of Aarzoo1965

Song of Mera Saya 1966

Song of Inteqam 1969

 

A Hit Song is a Collaborative Effort

Recently I was watching a video where five Bollywood lyricists were discussing that the due credit is not given to the lyricist. The whole credit for making it hit goes to the composer, singer or hero or heroine who lip-synced the song on the screen.
I believe that a cinema is a collaborative effort, all sections of a movie are in the hands of different professionals. Each one should get their own credit. 

A few years back in an award function, Anu Malik was awarded for the Best Song for" Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" and he didn't take the name of Varun Grover, the lyricist of the song

A few days back they ( Lyricists) came out with this video' Credit De Do Yaar'

         Credit song| Varun Grover| Kausar Munir | Amitabh Bhattacharya

During the Golden Era of Bollywood, there was a long and rich tradition of poems and lyrics. Many great poets were writing songs for the films. The songs were carrying the story forward. The songs written by them became hits and super-hits but their names were forgotten and with the passage of time not many pause to remember them and their contribution to the world of Hindi film music.

Song of Pyaasa 1957

Lyricist and playback singer Amitabh Bhattacharya feels that lyricists are not being given their due in the film industry. He says singers and composers receive more recognition than lyricists. The today music industry is in the hand of a few music companies, they are not bothered to give any credit to the lyricist. Many Bollywood singers recently shared on Twitter that they are disheartened by the lack of recognition in the entertainment industry. Singer Neha Bhasin, known for the song Jag Ghoomeya (Sultan, 2016) and other hits, is the latest musician to claim that she has faced the brunt of disrespect in the entertainment industry.

Song of Sultan 2016

 In Urdu poetry, there is a longstanding tradition of paying tribute or treating a great master’s work as the starting point from where you push off your own lyrical boat.  All the Ghazal singers before starting to sing always tell about the name of the poet who wrote the Ghazal. There was the time when in Vividh Bharti or Radio Ceylon, the name of the lyricist, composer, and singer used to be announced. but nowadays in FM radios and many musical platforms, this is missing.

My suggestion to the people, Whenever we see a song and the lyricist name is missing hit comments and enter it. If a couple of million people keep doing it on every song the platforms will change