Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 4, 2020)

It’s hard to forget Sadhana in Arzoo, a vision in white, against the backdrop of Chinar trees, their reddish-brown leaves carpeting the ground below, as she sighs about lost love, “Bedardi Balma Tujhko Mera Mann Yaad Karta Hai, Barasta Hai Jo Aankhon Se Woh Sawan Yaad Karta Hai”. The autumnal image is intercut with memories of spring when the same trees were lush and green, and the man of her dreams by her side. The evergreen chartbuster is among Lata Mangeshkar’s top five songs and producer-director Ramanand Sagar’s son, Prem Sagar, recounts how one day, while they were filming at the Rajkamal Studio, Jaikishen, of the composer duo Shankar-Jaikishen, suddenly walked in and reminded his Papaji that they still had one sad song to complete. Then, using the cameraman’s paatla (low wooden stool) as a makeshift drum, he began to belt out a tune even as his alaap rend the air. Then and there, the song was composed, with Jaikishen ji, whose recording for the day had been cancelled, urging Ramanand ji to record the song immediately as the studio was free, and Lata ji was there too, along with a 100-piece orchestra and Mangesh Desai, the best sound recordist in the business.

Soon after, Ramanand ji sent his lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri on a recce to find apt locations for the song. Once they were identified, they flew to the Valley for the shoot. But being a writer himself, Ramanand ji wanted a different colour palette for words like “Tujhe Is Jheel Ka Khamosh Darpan Yaad Karta Hai…” Being a much-loved son of Kashmir, he roped in the state tourism department to tell him when the Chinar trees would turn the exact shade of red-brown he had in mind. “Papaji knew he’d have a really short window of three-four days for this portion of the shoot and had warned Sadhana she’d have to drop everything when he called. She was game and after a flurry of telephone calls and telegrams, we rushed to the same location, this time in autumn, and completed the song,” narrates Prem Sagar ji, who has penned the bestselling book on his father, The Epic Life - Ramanand Sagar: From Barsaat To Ramayan.

There is a scene in the romance drama where Sadhana ji and Rajendra Kumar ji are walking along the banks of the Dal Lake in Srinagar, reading each other’s thoughts. “Yeh raasta kahaan jaata hai?” he asks, and she replies, again without words, “Yeh toh mujhe bhi nahin pata.” Prem Sagar ji acknowledges that it’s not easy speaking through silences, the language of the dead. “But Sadhana didn’t need words. The expressions flitting across her beautiful face spoke for her,” he says, chuckling as he recalls how the locals, including Chief Minister Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq, were amazed to see unseasonal poppies growing by the lake during the shoot. “How did they suddenly bloom?” they wondered aloud. Ramanand ji only smiled, unwilling to divulge that he had artificial flowers specially imported from Hong Kong for the sequence.

Arzoo started where An Affair To Remember ended, with Cary Grant’s Nickie realizing that the reason Deborah Kerr’s Terry did not keep their meeting at the Empire State Building is because she can’t walk. Ramanand ji took the same theme forward, with Rajendra Kumar’s Gopal aka Sarju, a champion skier, refusing to go back to his fiancée, Usha, after he loses his leg in an accident. He is afraid that she will reject him having heard her say that it is better to die than live the life of a disabled. Sadhanaji, as Usha, is unable to accept that her Sarju would leave without a word and keeps searching for him. She even goes to a skiing competition, where she spots someone who looks exactly like him on the slopes. But he tells her that he has been an invalid since he was a child and has never skied.

“Papaji wanted 10 feet snow for this sequence and we were cooped up in a hotel in Kufri, waiting for a heavy snowfall to call our lead pair, who were at the peak of their careers and really busy, for the shoot. “We had them fly out after it snowed for two days, but then, none of us could step out because it continued snowing. On the fifth day, Papaji told his hero and heroine that they were free to fly back, but both voluntarily decided to stay back another day. The next morning, the sun blazed bright and Papaji got what he wanted,” Prem Sagar ji flashbacks, all praise for the cooperative duo. “Sadhana was a God-gifted artiste who knew exactly what the director wanted from her. And despite being a top star and amongst the five most beautiful actresses in the industry, she had no airs and no requirements. She was a simple, homely girl and a great cook who’d bring biryani for the whole unit, from the director to the spot boys,” he raves.

September 2 marked the 79th birth anniversary of the actress who was also a style icon and Prem Sagar ji remembers that after the film’s release, her costumes, designed by Bhanu Athaiya, were such a craze among teenagers that as part of Arzoo’s promotional campaign, they designed a contest around her wardrobe. The winner was a young girl, who owns Cooper Chikki Shop in Lonavla, and, as promised, she was flown to Kathmandu and got to meet Princess Annapurna because she’d correctly answered all the questions about Sadhana ji’s clothes.

As told to Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 15, 2019)

I’m a hotel management student and my basic work ethics from the industry is to serve till the end. Even today, it is no big deal for me to open doors, serve food, clean tables and even shift furniture around as I used to do at my dad’s South Indian restaurant when I was 15. My dad started out as a cleaner in Mumbai before buying two restaurants, Broadway around Minerva Talkies and Ramanjay near Central Plaza theatre. I also had the urge to earn since I was a boy and while I was in college, I worked at the restaurant during lunch hour and in the evening. After we downed the shutters, I would go for a night show since we had theatres around. That’s how the filmi keeda got into my system.

A couple of years later, I wanted to do something different. I had this fascination of dressing up well and started a boutique, (now defunct) Mischief, with five friends. It was on Nepean Sea Road and quickly became a fashion hub with even international publications writing about my little big store in Mumbai which stocked the best of fashion. That was a big high and we started a store of formals next, More Mischief, along with Mischief Blues which was the go-to place for denims. Dabbling in the clothing business, I learnt about different types of fabrics, the thickness of denim and the T-shirt stretch and also continued with my other obsession, cricket. I played for Mumbai Under-16 and Under-19 under Ravi Shastri. It was my dream to play for Team India but there’s so much talent in our country that I couldn’t progress further.

A lot of celebrities, including movie producers, used to visit our store, that’s how I got offered a film even though I had no training in acting and no experience whatsoever. I had not even seen the inside of a studio till then. I consulted with dad who urged me to give it a shot. My first film, Arzoo, was just days away from the finish when it hit a roadblock. It was eventually shelved due to creative differences between the producer and director. I started my Bollywood journey with Balwaan but since I come from a business background, I know that life can be uncertain, so after my clothing stores shut shop, I invested in a real estate company, S2 Reality. I had also started a fine-dining restaurant in Mumbai, which is now in more able hands.

My last screen turn was in Desi Kattey in 2014. I took a break from films to spend time with my father after he suffered a paralytic attack. I had stopped enjoying the process of acting and decided to get into something more challenging. FTC started off as the sole fitness content provider to D2H platforms and now we provided ‘edutainment’ to budding actors. That includes jobs in acting, editing and direction to name a few. The idea is to turn it into the ‘Linkedin’ of entertainment industry and help organise an unorganised sector.

I’m also starting a cricket league with Zaheer Khan, FCB, for those who want to play the sport but have no place to go. I’m also back in film production and acting. I’ve just finished a Kannada film with Sudeep, Pailwaan, and now will start shooting for Marakkar - The Lion of Arabian Sea with Priyadarshan.