Blast From The Past: Sulakshana Pundit’s Love For Sanjeev Kumar Destroyed Her

Unrequited  love can’t get any more frightening than this.Singer-actress  Sulakshana Pandit  had a  budding career  in the 1970s.In fact she  was the first  singing-star  of Hindi cinema since Suraiya. While her songs  like Beqaraar dil tu gayeja(Door Ka Rahi), Maana teri nazar mein tera pyarhum nahin(Ahista Ahista), Baandhi re kahe preet(Sankoch),Somwar ko hum miley manglwaar konain(Apnaaapan) and Ghadi milan ki aayee(Ek Baap Chhe Bete)  became chartbusters , her  starring roles in  films like  Uljhan, Apnaapan , Phansi and  Hera Pheri made her  quite  the  boxoffice  favourite.

It was during the making of  the suspense  thriller Uljhan that Sulakshana  fell in love with Sanjeev Kumar, a  love that destroyed her life. Her single-minded devotion to the  actor went completely unreciprocated, as  Sanjeev  had  eyes only  for Hema  Malini.

It  was a  bizarre   quadrangle. Sulakashana loved  only Sanjeev Kumar who  loved only Hema  who  loved  none  but Dharmendra. Sulakshana  kept hoping against  hope that Sanjeev  would change  his mind . Since food was  Sanjeev’s weakness she  personally cooked and carried his  favourite dishes to his  shootings,  hoping that  the  belief that the way to man’s heart  was  through his stomach would be  proven  correct.

Alas,  the food did nothing to Sanjeev’s heart except create calorie clots. He died  of heart complications leaving  Sulakshana heartbroken for life.In his defence,  Sanjeev never kept  Sulakshana  in the dark, never misled her  into believing that he could  return her feelings

Her sister Vijayta Pandit told me, “Sulakshana  Didi was never the same after Sanjeev Kumarturned her love down. She rapidly lost touch with reality . It came to a point where she couldn’t stay on her own . So in 2006 we brought her to our home.She has been staying with me for several years now.She doesn’t meet anyone, hardly ever steps out of her room, unless it is to occasionally visit our farm-house in Lonavala which she loves.”

What a tragic love  story  this turned  out to be!