On occasion, life tells the most emotional stories of love, yearning, and missed opportunities. The saga of Sulakshana Pandit and Sanjeev Kumar is that kind of story. Destiny had a strange twist up its sleeve for this talented singer-actress who passed away on November 6—the same day marking the anniversary of the death of the man she adored but was never able to call her own.
Sulakshana Pandit made her acting debut opposite Sanjeev Kumar in the mystery thriller Uljhan (1975), when she fell for the older actor while filming. However, at that point in his life, Sanjeev was trying to recover from another relationship. Sanjeev had been in love with his other co-star, Hema Malini, in the film Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), even though her heart belonged to Dharmendra.
By an unfortunate twist of fate, Sulakshana became his quiet listener and adviser—a person who patiently listened to his stories of lost love. The more she learned of his heartache, the more deeply she fell in love with him. Sulakshana wanted to believe that one day, he would look up from his heartache and see the love she had for him.
Years later, when Sanjeev Kumar had a heart attack and received bypass surgery in the United States, Sulakshana’s love and support never changed. When he returned to India, she mustered the courage to take him to a temple, where she proposed marriage a heartfelt moment of devotion. Unfortunately, Sanjeev politely refused her proposal.
Though he had rejected her with his heart, Sulakshana stood by his side, always offering emotional support whenever he called upon her. But even further cruel fate awaited her. In 1985, Sanjeev Kumar died, leaving Sulakshana in a state of shock. She fell into a profound depression after his death, and shortly thereafter, while barely recovering, she lost her mother. Sulakshana was devastated mentally and physically. In a later interview she reflected, “These deaths changed me completely. They broke me internally.”
Years later her sister, Vijayta Pandit, and her brother-in-law, music composer Aadesh Shrivastava, put her back into their care and eventually brought some semblance of stability into her life. However, life had a way of testing her, once again. She endured severe injuries to her hip and underwent multiple surgeries, ultimately leaving her to live a silent, withdrawn life from the public eye.
The story of Sulakshana Pandit is to date one of the most poignant in all of Bollywood—a reminder that while some loves are never returned, one is always left with the echoes of love that can never truly die.
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