'Sulakshana didi was never the same after Sanjeev Kumar turned her down.'
Sulakshana Pandit loved only one man: Sanjeev Kumar.
She waited patiently for him to reciprocate her love, befriending his mother, preparing his favourite dishes... but he loved another.
"Sulakshana didi was never the same after Sanjeev Kumar turned her down," Sulakshana's sister Vijeta Pandit tells Subhash K Jha.
"She rapidly lost touch with reality. It came to a point where she couldn't stay on her own. In 2006, my husband (the late composer Aadesh Shrivastava) brought her to our home. She didn't meet anyone, hardly ever stepped out of her room, unless it was to occasionally visit our farm house in Lonavala which she loved."
Ironically, Sulakshana died on the same day as Sanjeev Kumar, 40 years later.
Sulakshana was the only singing actress since Suraiya.
In the 1970s and 1980s, she acted in successful films like Uljhan, Sankoch, Hera Pheri and Khandaan with Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra and Rajesh Khanna and sang her way into the charts with melodies like Beqarar Dil Tu Gayeja (Door Ka Rahi), Mana Teri Nazar Mein Tera Pyaar Hum Nahin (Khandaan), Bandhi Re Kahe Preet (Sankoch), Somwar Ko Hum Miley Manglwaar Ko Nain (Apnaaapan) and Ghadi Milan Ki Aayee (Ek Baap Chhe Bete).
For years, no one had seen this beautiful actress with a lovely voice.
"How could anyone see her? She didn't meet anyone," Vijeta says.
"Not even our brothers and sisters, except Sandhya. We kept Sandhya didi's disappearance (in 2014, she died under mysterious circumstances) away from Sulakshana didi. It wasn't that difficult since she refused to meet any guests, even close relatives and was confined to her room. She loved my two sons and said my younger son was actually her beta."
Years ago, Sulakshana fell in the bathroom and shattered her hip bone.
"She had to undergo four surgeries. After that, she couldn't walk properly. She remained in her room listening to the radio. She hardly watched television either. We sold her earlier property and bought her a flat in Lokhandwala (northwest Mumbai) but she never moved into it. She couldn't stay on her own. There was a time when Sulakshana didi looked after me. Then it was my turn to look after her."
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
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