Sulakshana Pandit gets a quiet funeral in presence of closed ones

Unsung and forgotten actor and singer Sulakshana Pandit known for films such as Uljhan 1975 and Sankoch 1976 was given a final adieu on Friday a day after she died of a cardiac arrest She was 71Sulakshana among the few Bollywood personalities who made an equally successful career as a singer passed away late Thursday at her sister Vijayata Panditrsquos home where she had been living since 2006Her last rites were performed at Pawan Hans crematorium in suburban Juhu in the afternoon Among those in attendance were actors Shabana Azmi and Poonam Dhillon as well as family member VijayataSulakshana Pandit Picsmidday archives InstagramSulakshana who has to her credit songs like Tu Hi Sagar Tu Hi Kinara Sankalp 1975 and Bandi Re Kaahe Preet Sankoch was born into a musical family that included her uncle the legendary vocalist Pandit Jasraj She was born in 1954 in Raigarh The musical family originally hails from Hissar Haryana Sulakshana had to step into the limelight at an early age after the death of her father and guru Pratap Narain PanditShe recorded her careerrsquos first duet Saat Samandar Par with Lata Mangeshakar for Taqdeer 1967 Eight years later she made her acting debut with Uljhan opposite Sanjeev Kumar She fell in love with him but it wasnrsquot reciprocated and Sulakshana heartbroken after his untimely death in 1985 never got marriedHer showbiz career soared She worked with all the top stars and singers of her era including Rajesh Khanna Shashi Kapoor Jeetendra and Vinod Khanna But singing remained her first love and she continued it parallel to her acting career Her hit songs are Pardesiya Tere Desh Mein and Bekrar Dil Tut Gaya Garam Khoon 1980 and Somvaar Ko Hum Mile Apnapan 1977Vijayata said in a recent interview that her sister had long been unwell ldquoShe has been staying with us for a long time now She was in a bad state was retired and had no money to maintain the house So I brought her to my house and got her property sold off From the money I got her a flat in Lokhandwala She also got my sister Sandhya and Maya a houserdquo Vijayata told Lehren Retro last yearSinger and cousin Durga Jasraj said Sulakshana was the ldquothe first starrdquo and the strongest pillar in the family ldquoSulakshana jiji dedicated her entire life towards bringing the family to the forefront with her limitless talent She sang acted performed and explored every aspect of her personality and became the first star in our Pandit familyrdquoSulakshanarsquos niece Shweta Pandit wrote on Instagram ldquoMy guru my guide my lifeline she was the prettiest angel I got to spend some of my most beautiful musical memories withrdquoHer notable films1975 lsquoUljhan1975 lsquoSankalprsquo1975 lsquoSalaakhenrsquo1976 lsquoSankoch1976 lsquoHera Pherirsquo1979 lsquoKhandaanrsquo1980 lsquoGaram Khoonrsquo1985 lsquoKala Surajrsquo1988 lsquoDo Waqt Ki RotirsquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever