Early career Sadhana aspired to be an actress since childhood. In 1955, she played a chorus girl in the song "Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke" in
Raj Kapoor's
Shree 420. When she was 15 years old, she was approached by some producers who had seen her act in a college play. They cast her in India's first Sindhi film titled
Abaana (1958), where she played the role of
Sheila Ramani's younger sister. She was paid Re 1 for this movie. A photograph of her taken during the promotional shoot for the film
Abaana (1958) appeared in the movie magazine
Screen. It was then that
Sashadhar Mukherjee, one of Hindi cinema's leading producers at that time, noticed her. She joined Mukherjee's acting school along with her debutant co-star
Joy Mukherjee, Sashadhar's son. Ram Krishna Nayyar (
R. K. Nayyar), who had previously worked as assistant director on a few films, directed this film. He also created her trademark look, called the
Sadhana cut, inspired by Hollywood actress
Audrey Hepburn. The Filmalaya Production banner thus introduced Joy, Sadhana and her iconic hairstyle in their 1960 romantic film
Love in Simla. The film was declared a hit at the box office and was listed in the top 10 films of 1960. During this period she would again work under the same banner opposite Joy in
Ek Musafir Ek Haseena.
Stardom Besides
Love in Simla, Sadhana was signed by acclaimed director
Bimal Roy for his satirical film on Indian democracy;
Parakh. She portrayed a simple village girl in this multi-award-winning film. The film was a semi hit at box office and is known for the song "O Sajna Barkha Bahar Aai" sung by Lata Mangeshkar. In 1961's other hit,
Hum Dono, she played the love interest of
Dev Anand. This black-and-white film was
colourized and re-released in 2011.
Rediff.com in the film's review writes about Sadhana: "Her eyes, expressive and captivating, do most of the work, while she balances out her submissiveness with a firm tongue." The duet "Abhi na jaao chhodkar" from the film
Hum Dono is regarded as "the most romantic song" by actor
Shah Rukh Khan and director
Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Author
Amit Chaudhuri in an essay comparing cultures, says that Sadhana's curious expressions in the song denote listener's peculiar ecstasy while in other cinemas it would mean sex or love. 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. and ranked in the top 5 films of the 1960s. In 1964, she played a double role in the first of the suspense-thriller trilogy;
Woh Kaun Thi? This white-sari-clad performance opposite
Manoj Kumar earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. Through this role she got to be part of
Lata Mangeshkar –
Madan Mohan’s songs "Naina barse" and "Lag ja gale".
Rediff.com called her a show-stopper "with an intriguing Mona Lisa-like smile". The film was a box office hit. Raj Khosla cast her in two more successful mystery films;
Mera Saaya (1966) and
Anita (1967) thus making her famous as the "Mystery girl".
Mera Saaya, a box office Superhit, a courtroom drama film, again saw her playing a double role, now opposite
Sunil Dutt. The song "Jhumka gira re" sung by
Asha Bhosle and composed by Madan Mohan saw Sadhana perform dance steps choreographed by
Saroj Khan. Khan was then an assistant to dance director
B. Sohanlal. The song became so popular that excited audience in cinema halls used to throw coins at the screen, and is one of the most requested songs on the radio. Sadhana got her second Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the role of Meena, in Yash Chopra's directorial saga
Waqt (1965). She stood out in Bollywood’s first ever ensemble cast by bringing out the fashion of tight
churidar-kurtas. The film proved to be 1965's "blockbuster hit". Her other notable works in the 1960s include performances in
Rajkumar (1964),
Dulha Dulhan (1964),
Gaban (1966) and
Budtameez (1966).
End of acting career Sadhana had health issues due to her thyroid, which she got treated in
Boston. In
Intaquam she played the role of a woman who revengefully lures the son of her own boss who cheated her, to be put behind the bars for a crime he did not commit. In 1974, her directorial venture
Geeta Mera Naam was released. Produced by her husband, the film had herself playing the lead actress along with
Sunil Dutt and
Feroz Khan. It was also
Saroj Khan's first film as an independent dance director. The film did "above average" business at the box office. A
non-lexical vocable from the song "Mujhe maar daalo" of this film appears in the song "People" which features in American rapper
J Dilla's album
Donuts (2006). After that, she retired from acting, as she did not want to be cast as a side-actress or do character roles. ==Personal life==