Sadhana Shivdasani (2 September 1941 – 25 December 2015), known mononymously as Sadhana, was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films, primarily active between 1958-1981. Regarded as one of the finest and iconic actresses of the golden age of Hindi Cinema, Sadhana was noted for her exquisite beauty, understated acting and trend-setting fashion statements. Popularly known as "The Mystery Girl" for her stint as the "mysterious woman" in the suspense thriller trilogy films directed by Raj Khosla during the mid 1960s, Sadhana was ranked among the highest-paid actresses in the country from mid-1960s to early 1970s.
Born in Karachi, Sadhana and her family migrated to Bombay during the partition of India when she was 7 years old. She aspired to become an actress since her childhood. After making an unnoticed and uncredited appearance in Shree 420 (1955), Sadhana became the protègè of the director Sashadhar Mukherjee, who enrolled her in his acting school and then provided her with her first starring role, in the romantic comedy Love In Simla (1960), where her distinctive hairstyle became a rage and came to be known as "Sadhana Cut". Following the success of Love In Simla, Sadhana went on to establish herself as an actress with several box-office hits, including the social satire and light hearted romantic dramas such as Parakh (1960) and Asli-Naqli (1962), the war film Hum Dono (1961) and the adventurous thriller Ek Musafir Ek Haseena (1962).
She followed this initial success with her greatest commercial successes—the Muslim social romantic drama Mere Mehboob (1963), the costume drama Rajkumar (1964), romantic family drama Arzoo (1965); the multi-starrer Waqt (1965) and the mystery-thriller trilogy such as Woh Kaun Thi (1964), Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967).
Her health deteriorated in the latter half of 1960s due to hyperthyroidism, which forced her to take a brief break from work. She went to Boston for her treatment and returned to acting in 1969, starring in two consecutive box-office hits—Ek Phool Do Mali and Intaqam. In 1974, the actress made her directorial debut with the crime thriller Geetaa Mera Naam, and later withdrew from acting. Her final screen appearance was in the delayed release Ulfat Ki Nayi Manzilein (1994). In 2002, she received the IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to Indian cinema.
Sadhana was married to her Love in Simla director R.K. Nayyar on 7 March,1966. Their marriage lasted for nearly 30 years and ended when Nayyar died in September 1995 due to Astma.
She was admitted to Hinduja Hospital on 24 December 2015, following a high fever and also complained of breathlessness. She died on the morning of 25 December 2015.
