Birthday Special: YE UNN DINO KI BAAT HAI JAB TEEN MAHARATHI SADHANA KO DIL DE BAITHE THE .... BY LT ALI PETER JOHN

I sometimes wonder what the world would be without love . I know the power and the weakness of love , but I still love to love and I don't think I can change now . Love has shown me all its moods, attitudes and colours, but I am still a dedicated and true to the core kind of lover - Ali Peter John

I know love can make or break , but I still love to love . Emperors and Kings have lost their empires and kingdoms for love , then am I to let myself lose as a lover who was taught the meaning of love by my mother who was my ultimate symbol of love .

It is the lover in me that admire , respects and love lovers and their love stories . This is an unusual love story about one of the most beautiful actresses called Sadhana, whose first film , " Love In Simla" I had seen at the Usha talkies in Andheri when I was 9 years old and had fallen in love with her and I was a lover even after she left the industry and till she died on one Christmas Day in 2015.

Soon after "Love In Simla", Sadhana had signed a number of films especially for her beauty and her hair style which was called the " Sadhana cut" , a style her director in" Love In Simla" had asked her to follow , which was a style she had been inspired to take by the Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn . She had signed films with leading stars like Dev Anand , Shammi Kapoor and Joy Mukerji , her first hero.

But , the year 1965 was the turning point in her life and career . She had done films like "Woh Kaun Thi", "Hum Dono", "Waqt" and " Arzoo" , the first directed by Raj Khosla , the second by Vijay Anand , the third by Yash Chopra and the fourth by Ramanand Sagar, and all of them were block busters and Sadhana was the leading actress and also the highest paid .

It was a time when the entire country was in love with her and her "Sadhana cut" hair style and tight choodidaar kurta outfit , both of which became a craze all over . It seemed like no one and nothing could stop her, a fact accepted even by her rivals.

And more than her admirers and fans , there were three of her best directors who were madly in love with her . She knew how much they loved her and it is said that she enjoyed the attention , care and love the three directors gave her without any of them knowing that the other man was also in love with her .

Yash Chopra conciderd her to be his lucky charm because he cast her in his first multi- starrer "Waqt" which was the biggest hit of the 60s . Yashji , the eternal romantic has told me stories about his love for Sadhana.

He and Sadhana used to talk for more than 12 hours on the phone at night and was determined to marry her , but it was his elder brother Dr B R Chopra who did not allow him to fulfill his wish .

Yashji however could not forget Sadhana and years later when Sadhana was down and out and had started making TV serials, Yashji gave her all the help she needed , whether it was financial help or technical expertise .

Yashji and Sadhana were in touch with each other till the very end . But the winner in the race of the lovers of Sadhana ended with her opting for R K Nayyar who had directed her first film, " Love In Simla" . It was described by many as a race in which the tortoise one . Sadhana and Nayyar were married for the next 30 years , till Nayyar died in 1995

And after Nayyar died , Sadhana never thought of getting married again . She gave up working in films after 1973 because she didn't want to play mother's roles and supporting roles .

She was still working when she had a serious Thyroid problem which damaged her beautiful face and eyes which were her strong points. She was almost cured after being treated in Boston in America and came back and started working again and did some of her best roles during this time .

She even directed a film called " Geeta Mera Naam" in which she did the kind action scenes no other actress ( except Nadia ) had done before her . She was still optimistic about her future when Cancer struck her.

She had several court cases about her house and wax finally living in Santa Cruz in a building called Sangeeta Apartments, where she complained of high fever one night and was taken to the Hinduja Hospital , where she died on Christmas Day and she was cremated at the Oshiwara electric crematorium and when her body went up in flames , I once again realised how fame beauty , fortune and all the luxuries of life were just a passing phase and death was the only ultimate truth.

And life was only a passing dream the Sindhi girl from the barracks of Sion where her family lived as refugees who had come from Pakistan and who had started her career as a junior dancer in the song , " mud mud ke na dekh mud mud ke na dekh" in Raj Kapoor's "Shri 420" and had ended up being known as " the mystery girl " had to lie on the dirty floor of an electric crematorium where two men shoved her body into an oven and switched on a button and came out with relief and said ", ho gaya , sab khatam ho gaya".

SHAMSHAAN KI SACHAAI SAB SE SUKOON KI SACCHAI HOTI HAI . LEKIN HUM INSAAN SUKOON YAHA WAHA , KABHI ASLI SUKOON AUR KABHI NAQLI SUKOON KO DHOONDTE FIRTE RAHTE HAI