Bollywood’s yesteryear singer and actress Sulakshana Pandit — who sang with the top singers and acted with leading actors of the day in her short-lived career — died of a cardiac arrest at a Mumbai hospital after prolonged illness.
Sulakshana — who chose to remain a spinster after the late Sanjiv Kumar rejected her marriage proposal and was living with her younger actress sister Vijayata Pandit — was 71. She breathed her last at Nanavati Hospital on Thursday.
Daughter of classical vocalist Pratap Narain Pandit, niece of the legendary classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj and sister of music-director duo Jatin-Lalit, Sulakshana came from a distinguished musical lineage and came from the Mewati Gharana. She was part of a big family of seven siblings – brothers Jatin and Lalit Pandit, brother Mandheer Pandit, and sisters Maya, Sandhya and Vijayta.
Born on July 12, 1954, in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, Sulakshana began singing at the tender age of nine years.
She made a foray into Bollywood as a child singer by singing the popular song “Saat Samundar Paar se” with Lata Mangeshkar in 1967. She went to sing in the later years with top-notch singers like Lata herself, Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Shailender Singh, Yesudas, Mahendra Kapoor and Udit Narayan. She sang in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya and Gujarati.
As a 13-year-old, she sang with Lata Mangeshkar, “Pappa Jaldi Aa Jaana…” (Taqdeer, 1967), composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. She became popular when she sang “Beqarar Dil Tu Gaye Ja…” with Kishore Kumar (‘Door Ka Rahi’, 1971).
Her popular songs included “Jaana Kahan Hai” (Chalte Chalte), “Chal Chal Kahin Akele Mein” (Salakhein) (both1975); “Somwar Ko Hum Mile” (Apnapan), “Aaj Loota Do” (Kasam Khoon Ki) (1977); “Jab Aati Hogi Yaad Meri” (Phaansi), “Haathon Me Mere Bhi Mehndi” (Dil Se Mile Dil) (1978); “Pardesiya Tere Des Me” (Garam Khoon), “Mana Teri Nazar Me” (Khandan) (1979); “Mausam Mausam, Lovely Mausam” (Thodisi Bewafai), “Geeton Ki Duniya Me Sargam” (Sparsh) (1980); “Jiske Liye Sabko Chhoda” (Saajan Ki Saheli), “Tumse Kehna Hai Ki Dushwar” (Chehre Pe Chehra) (1981).
In 1986, Sulakshana was one of the singers to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London to celebrate the “Festival of Indian Music” Concert along with acclaimed Music Directors Laxmikant Pyarelal and singers Manhar, Shabbir Kumar, Nitin Mukesh and Anuradha Paudwal.
She had a short acting career in the 1970s and early ‘80s. She began her acting career with the suspense thriller Uljhan in 1975, opposite Sanjeev Kumar.
Later on, she acted as a leading lady other top actors of the 1970s like Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Shashi Kapoor and Shatrughan Sinha. Her popular films include “Hera Pheri”, “Apnapan”, “Khandaan”, “Chehre Pe Chehra”, “Dharam Kanta” and “Waqt Ki Deewar”. She acted in a Bengali movie “Bandie” opposite Uttam Kumar.
Sulkashna fell in love with actor Sanjeev Kumar who spurned her marriage proposal. Despite his rejection, she continued to love him madly. In fact, she took care of Sanjeev Kumar during his last years. After Sanjeev Kumar’s death in 1985, she went into acute depression.
After 2006, she began to live with her younger sister Vijayta and brother-in-law Aadesh Shrivastava. After Aadesh’s death in 2015, she continued to live with Vijayata till her death.