Sadhana Shivdasani

• Did Sadhana Shivdasani drink alcohol?: Yes 
• Sadhana Shivdasani, popularly known as ‘Sadhana’ in the Indian film industry, was one of the most successful Bollywood actresses whose acting career spanned between 1960 and 1981. Sadhana was ranked as the highest-paid actress in the industry from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. Sadhana was popular as “The Mystery Girl” in the Indian film industry for portraying mysterious characters in films, mostly directed by Raj Khosla (one of the acclaimed directors, producers, and screenwriters in Hindi films from the 1950s to the 1980s).
• Sadhana was born in Karachi, and when she was seven-years-old, during the post-partition riots in Pakistan, Sadhana and her family migrated to Bombay, Maharashtra, India.

• In an interview, Sadhana said that Raj Khosla who directed her in the maximum number of films had become a sort of family member to her. She said that Raj Khosla knew her strengths and weaknesses as an actress, and she felt comfortable working with him. She said,
   

On director Raj Khosla who directed her in the maximum number of films: “He had become a sort of family friend, and he knew my strengths and weaknesses as an actress. I felt comfortable working with him. We vibed well together.”

• Reportedly, Sadhana was the only child of her parents. Sadhana was named by her father after his favourite actress-dancer Sadhana Bose (an Indian actress and a dancer). Sadhana’s father was the elder brother of actor Hari Shivdasani, father of veteran actress Babita Kapoor. Apparently, Sadhana was highly inspired to become a film actress in future; however, in childhood, Sadhana was allowed to watch as many as two films only. Some Indian producers who had seen her acting skills in a college play approached her when she was 15 years old. Sadhana played the role of Sheila Ramani’s younger sister in India’s first Sindhi film titled Abaana in 1958.

• In an interview, Sadhana remembered veteran actress Nutun and said that Nutan was her inspiration to become an actress in the Indian film industry. She declared,
   

If there was an actress I modelled myself in the lines of it was the versatile Nutan in ‘Seema’, ‘Sujata’ and ‘Bandini’. ‘Parakh’ was a film where I really followed Nutan.”

• Sadhana made her unnoticed appearance in the Indian movie Shree 420 as a chorus dancer girl in the song “Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke” in 1955. Shivdasani was guided and supported by the Indian director Sashadhar Mukherjee who enrolled her in his acting school. In 1960, Sashadhar Mukherjee provided Sadhana with her first starring role in the romantic comedy movie Love In Shimla.

• In the 1950s, Sadhana acted as a child artist in four films in the Indian film industry.
• Reportedly, in 1958, at Filmalaya Studio (an Indian acting school in Mumbai), the veteran Indian actor Dev Anand noticed a bubbling, spontaneous young girl with highly expressive eyes and a beautiful smile, Sadhana. Dev Anand met and complemented Sadhana that she would do big in her career in the future, and apparently, his prediction came true, and Sadhana became the ruling queen of Bollywood cinema in the 1960s. Dev Anand told Sadhana,
   

You are a very pretty girl. You will make it really big as an actress.”

• In 1955, Sadhana’s photograph appeared on an Indian movie magazine, ‘Screen,’ while publicizing the movie Shree 420. Sashadhar Mukherjee (one of Hindi cinema’s leading producers at that time), noticed her at that time. R.K. Nayyar, who directed the movie ‘Love In Shimla,’ created her trademark look with a fringe haircut. Sadhana’s distinctive hairstyle became a rage, and it came to be popularly known as “Sadhana hair cut” after her debut movie as a leading actress in Love In Simla in 1960. The ‘Sadhana hair cut’ was inspired by the British actress Audrey Hepburn.

• In 2018, Sadhna’s personal stuff like letters, photographs, and notes was found with a scrap dealer in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Later, the Film Heritage Foundation (an NGO) claimed the stuff. She died on 25 December 2015.
• In an interview, when Sadhana’s movie “Hum Dono” with veteran actor Dev Anand screened coloured on the Indian cinema screens, Sadhana commented with a smile on her face that she would definitely watch the coloured version of her movie. She said,
   

No, I will never come in public eye for this event but will definitely watch the film in colour to view how Dev, Nanda, myself and the entire film appears.”