''Sulakshana Pandit'' is an Indian playback singer and former Bollywood leading lady belonging to the Mewati Gharana.

Career

Sulakshana's career as an actress spanned the 1970s and early '80s. As a leading lady she has worked with most of the top actors of the 1970s like

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and

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. Her acting career began with the suspense thriller ''

Uljhan ''Uljhan'' (Confusion) is a 1975 Hindi suspense thriller film. Produced by Sudesh Kumar and directed by Raghunath Jhalani, it stars Ashok Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Asrani, Farida Jalal, Aruna Irani, Sulakshana Pandit, and Ranjeet. The music is ...

'' in 1975, opposite Sanjeev Kumar. In

Anil Ganguly Anil Ganguly (26 January 1933 – 15 January 2016) was an Indian film director and screenwriter, who worked in Hindi cinema from 1970s to 2001. He is best known for Jaya Bhaduri starrer, ''Kora Kagaz'' (1974) and the Rakhee Gulzar, Rakhee st ...

's ''

Sankoch ''Sankoch'' () is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language drama film, produced by R. K. Soral on Suyog Films banner and directed by Anil Ganguly. Starring Jeetendra, Sulakshana Pandit and music composed by Kalyanji–Anandji. The movie is based on the n ...

'' (1976), which was based on the novel ''Parineeta'', she portrayed Lolita. Her other popular films include '' Hera Pheri'', ''

Apnapan ''Apnapan'' ( ''Kinship'') is a 1977 Indian Hindi-language drama film, produced and directed by J. Om Prakash under the FILMYUG Pvt. Ltd. banner. It stars Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra, Reena Roy and Sulakshana Pandit, and has music composed by Lax ...

'', ''Khandaan'', ''Chehre Pe Chehra'', ''Dharam Kanta'' and ''Waqt Ki Deewar''. She acted in a Bengali movie ''Bandie'' 1978, where she was paired opposite

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar ( bn, উত্তম কুমার; born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), popularly known as the Mahanayak, was an Indian actor, producer, director, Screenwriter, script writer, composer, and sing ...

. Sulakshana had a singing career alongside her acting one. She began her singing career as a child singer singing the popular song "Saat Samundar Paar se" with

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in the 1967 film '' Taqdeer''. Thereafter, she recorded with famed musicians such as

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and

Hemant Kumar Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), known professionally as Hemant Kumar and Hemanta Mukherjee, was a legendary Indian music composer and playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, as well as other Indian ...

. She sang in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya and Gujarati. In 1980, she released an album titled ''Jazbaat'' (HMV), wherein she rendered

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s. She sang duets with accomplished singers such as

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, Mahendra Kapoor and

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. She sang under music directors such as

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, Laxmikant Pyarelal,

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and several others. 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. Her voice was last heard in an alaap in the song "Saagar Kinare Bhi Do Dil" from the movie ''Khamoshi the musical'' (1996), which was composed by her brothers Jatin and Lalit.

Personal life

Sulakshana comes from a musical family originating from Pilimandori Village in Hissar (now Fatehabad) district of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

state. The famous classical vocalist and legendary

Pandit Jasraj Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930 – 17 August 2020) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the '' Mewati gharana'' (musical apprenticeship lineage). His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame ...

was her uncle. Ex Rajgarh MP &

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leader Vasant Kumar Pandit was also her uncle. She started singing at the age of nine. Her elder brother Mandheer Pandit (who was earlier a music composer in the 1980s with Jatin Pandit as the duo Mandheer–Jatin) was her constant companion in Mumbai; they performed and sang on stage until Sulakshana became a leading playback singer through many of their live concerts with legends such as

and

. She has three brothers (Mandheer, Jatin and Lalit Pandit) and three sisters (Late Maya Anderson, Late Sandhya Singh and

Vijayta Pandit Vijayta Pandit is an Indian actress and playback singer, most famous for her first film '' Love Story'' (1981). Early life and background Vijayta comes from a musical family originating from Pili Mandori Village in Hissar district of Haryana ...

). Her father Pratap Narain Pandit was an accomplished classical vocalist. Her nephew

Yash Pandit Yash Pandit (Yasodhan Pandit) is a Bollywood and television actor. Career In his childhood, he also performed in Chetan Anand's '' Haathon Ki Lakeeren'' as a child artist. He has acted as a lead actor in films ''Rok Sako To Rok Lo'', ''Yeh ...

is an Indian television actor. Nieces

Shraddha Pandit Shradha Pandit (born 4 July 1982) is an Indian playback singer. Career Shradha grew up in Mumbai and belongs to a large family of successful musicians, singers, music producers and actors. She learnt Hindustani Classical Music from her Grandf ...

and Shweta Pandit are playback singers. Her cousin is playback singer Hemlata. Sulakshana has never been married, after actor

turned down her marriage proposal. She fell on hard times after she stopped getting work. Her sister

and brother-in-law, music composer

Aadesh Shrivastava Aadesh Shrivastava (4 September 1964 – 5 September 2015) was a music composer and singer of Indian music. Initially, he had worked as a drummer to music composers including R. D. Burman, Rajesh Roshan before working independently as a music d ...

, had plans to compose a devotional album for her, but Aadesh died before he could.Quality Matters (Archived link)
/ref> She broke her hip bone when she fell in the bathroom. Sulakshana makes rare public appearances after her four surgeries that left her impaired. She has given a full length radio interview wherein she spoke about her acting & singing career to RJ Vijay Akela in July 2017.

Filmography

As singer

As actress

Awards

Filmfare Best Female Playback Award The Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by '' Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a female playback singer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a film song. Although the award ce ...

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''. * Nominated as

for rendering the classical "Bandhi Re Kahe Preet" in ''Sankoch'' (1976)

References

External links

*
Whatever happened to... Sulakshana Pandit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandit, Sulakshana Bollywood playback singers Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian women playback singers 20th-century Indian singers Living people 1954 births 20th-century Indian actresses 20th-century Indian women singers People from Raigarh Women musicians from Chhattisgarh Singers from Chhattisgarh Actresses from Chhattisgarh Filmfare Awards winners