Sulakshana Pandit
 | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification, as it includes attribution to IMDb. (August 2009) |
Sulakshana Pandit | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Sulakshana Pratap Narain Pandit |
| Also known as | Sulakshna Pandit |
| Genres | Playback singing, Performing Artist |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Actor |
| Years active | Singing: 1967–1996 Acting:1975–1988 |
Sulakshana Pratap Narain Pandit is a Filmfare Award winning Playback Singer & Actor.Her brothers are the composing duo Jatin Lalit and her younger sister is Vijeta Pandit who achieved fame with her debut movie Love Story. Her uncle is the accomplished classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
Career
Sulakshana's career as heroine spanned in '70s and early '80s. As a leading lady she worked with Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Raj Babbar and Rakesh Roshan. Her acting career began with the suspense thriller Uljhan in 1975 opposite Sanjeev Kumar.
In Anil Ganguly's Sankoch (1976) which was based on the novel Parineeta she portrayed Lolita. Some of her popular hit films are Uljhan, Hera Pheri, Apnapan, Sankoch, Khandaan, Raaz, Thief of Baghdad, Chehre Pe Chehra, Dharam Kanta and Waqt Ki Deewar.
She also acted in a Bengali movie Bondie where she was paired opposite Uttam Kumar.
Sulakshana had a singing career along side her acting career.She began her singing career as a child singer singing the popular song Saat Samundar Paar se along with Lata Mangeshkar in the 1967 film Taqdeer. Thereafter, she recorded with famed Musicians like Hemant Kumar & Kishore Kumar. She sang in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya and Gujarati. Some of her popular songs are listed in "Filmography" section below.
In 1980 she released an album titled Jazbaat(courtesy HMV), wherein she rendered Ghazals.
She sang duets with accomplished singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd. Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Shailender Singh, Yesudas, Mahendra Kapoor and Udit Narayan. She sang under the music direction of Music Directors like Shankar Jaikishan, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyanji Anandji, Kanu Roy, Bappi Lahiri, Usha Khanna, Rajesh Roshan, Khayyam, Rajkamal & several others.
Filmography
As Singer
| Year | Film | Song | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Door Ka Raahi | "Beqarar-e-dil tu gaaye ja" | |
| 1975 | Chalte Chalte | "Sapnon ka raja koi" | |
| Uljhan | "Aaj Pyare Pyare Se Lagte" | ||
| Sankalp | "Tu hi Saagar hai tu hi kinara" | ||
| 1976 | Sankoch | "Bandhi re kahe preet" | |
| 1977 | Apnapan | "Somwar ko hum mile" | |
| 1979 | Khandaan | "Ye Mulaqat Ek Bahana Hai" | |
| Griha Pravesh | "Boliye surili boliyaan" | ||
| 1980 | Thodisi Bewafaii | "Mausam mausam lovely mausam" | |
| Sparsh | "Khaali Pyala Chhalka" | ||
| 1981 | Ahistaa Ahistaa | "Mana teri nazar" | |
| Saajan Ki Saheli | "Jiske Liye Sab ko Chhoda" |
As Actress
| Year | Film | Character/Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Chehre Pe Chehra | Diana | |
| 1979 | Khandaan | Usha | |
| 1975 | Salaakhen | Guddi/Seema |
Awards
- Filmfare Best Female Playback Award in 1975 for the song "Tu hi saagar hai tu hi kinara" in Sankalp (1975).
- Miyan Tansen Award in 1975 for the song "Tu hi Saagar hai tu hi kinara" in Sankalp (1975)
- Nominated as Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for rendering the classical "Bandhi re Kahe Preet" in Sankoch (1976)
Personal life
She comes from a musical family originating from Pili Mandori Village in Hissar district of Haryana state. She is related to Pandit Jasraj who is her uncle. She started singing at the age of 9 as a child and her elder brother Mandheer Pandit (who was earlier a music composer in the 80's with Jatin Pandit, better known as Mandheer - Jatin) was her only constant companion in the city of Mumbai and they both performed and sang on stage till Sulakshana became a leading Playback Singer through many of their Live Concerts with Legends like Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi.
She has 3 brothers (Mandheer, Jatin Pandit & Lalit Pandit) & 3 sisters (Maya,Sandhya & Vijeta Pandit).Her father Pratap Narain Pandit was an accomplished Classical Vocalist.Her nephew Yash Pandit is an Indian Television Actor & nieces Shradha Pandit & Shweta Pandit are playback singers.
Sulakshana has never been married. Actor Sanjeev Kumar turned down her marriage proposal, because he never got over his heartbreak after actress Hema Malini rejected him to marry her frequent co-star Dharmendra. She also fell on hard times when she stopped getting work. She was living in an apartment with no furniture and that required serious repairs.[1] She was forced to put it up for sale, and it remained on the market for several months, until finally her former leading man Jeetendra came to her rescue by convincing his brother-in-law to purchase the flat. From the proceeds of the sale, she was able to pay off her debts and purchase three apartments.[2] Her sister Vijeta Pandit and brother-in-law, music composer Aadesh Shrivastava took care of her.[3] Aadesh has indicated that he was composing a devotional album for Sulakshana.[4]
References
External links
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