Whatever happened to Sulakshana Pandit?
Ket...@att.net
Afzal A. Khan
Ket...@att.net wrote:
>
> http://filmfare.indiatimes.com/clips/site/aug2002/ivw9.html
It was quite sad to read about the kind of life she is
leading today. Money, fame, glory --- they are all
transient.
I have seen her in person. And whatever has been said about
her complexion in the above article is certainly true.
She was certainly not worldly-wise. Her naivete was also
an important factor in her lack of success.
The writer says she had acted in over 50 films. This figure
seems exaggerated. 20-25 is more like it.
The article says that Jatin-Lalit pay her some money every
month and her sister provides the rations. All of them are
quite well off and should certainly be doing more for her
comfort. Imagine living in Bombay, without even a fan or
electricity.
Afzal
Surajit A. Bose
> http://filmfare.indiatimes.com/clips/site/aug2002/ivw9.html
What a very sad story. Sulakshana Pandit was (and probably still is) a
tremendously gifted singer.
Incidentally, the article seems to show that the singer Hemlata is not,
after all, Sulakshana's sister, despite a couple claims to that effect
on RMIM.
-s
vibhendu
Yes, but it could also be a case of the writer dramatising the facts
to make a good copy. Perhaps the interviewer tried to exaggerate a few
things here, specially the stuff like the place lacking any furniture
,fans etc.
Also, the story did not discuss any high points in her career, does
not let her recount any anecdotes or anything about the songs she
sang.
I was curious about her whereabouts for some time and the story made
a sad reading. She was last heard briefly in the song from
'Khamoshi'-'Saagar Kinare Do dil hain pyase' and one had hoped that
with Jatin Lalit finally making it big, we would get to hear more from
the sisters.
Vijayeta also had only two songs with JL. She is now singing a song
for Dev Anand's forthcoming movie under her husband Aadesh
Srivastava.
I never heard of Hemlata being their sister though they could be
related because of common background-Marwaris from Calcutta. But, I
also have had some confusion determining the exact set.I always heard
the term 'Pandit Sisters' being applied to-Sulakshana,Vijayeta and
Divya.To add to the confusion,the youngest has at least once been
mentioned as Rashi and now as Sandhya.
In fact five of them (with J-L) brought out an early indipop album
when Polydor was still Polydor. An early 80's film where Sulakshana
does playback-'Dil hi Dil mein' has Mandhir-Jatin as the MD's. I
assume Jatin to be her brother but then who is Mandhir.And why did
Jatin did not pursue career as MD only to reappear later in 1989/1990
with Lalit.In addition there is Devki Pandit who playbacked for J-L in
'Woh to hai albela' in 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa' and Shiv Hari in 'Darr'.
She was also Naushad 's choice in 'Guddu'.She switched to classical
singing some time back.Then there was Shraddha Pandit singing for J-L
in 'Sanghursh' and 'Mohabbatein'. Are Shraddha and Devki a part of
family?
Sulakshana and siblings are children of Pandit Jasraj's elder(?)
brother Pratap Narain.
As for Sulakshan's comment that J-L should have been given 'Devdas', I
think the brothers to be the biggest disappointment of the last
decade along with cousin Sharang Dev. These guys did not deliver
despite their right background.
As for Hemlata, she also seems to have done a disappearing act.The
last I heard about her was when she was recording a song for a horror
movie with some obscure MD. This was part of 'Sangeet Sitare' series
by Plus channel around 1997-98. I remember her interview from 'S
Kumars ki Filmi Adalat' where she recounted how she was chosen by
Naushad to be the next Lata and he brought her all the way from
Calcutta. Her real name was Lata and she was rechristened by Naushad.
She was groomed by Naushad to be introduced in his next movie but on
the condition that she will not sing in public in the intervening
period.The news about Naushad 's discovery soon spread. The father and
daughter duo resisted all the offers till one day C Ramachandra and
Roshan gave them a visit and requested Hemalata to sing Lata 's songs
for a 'Roshan's nite' because Lata herself was not available .She made
an entry singing the aalap portion of 'Jo vaada kiya hai' with Rafi
and made quite an impact.Naushad was enraged and dropped all plans to
launch her. Subsequently, she recorded a duet with K-A and started her
playback career.
The 70's set did not lack in talent but they lacked the resilience
ansd strong will of a Kavita Krishnamurthy and Alka Yagnik.
Vibhendu
naniwadekar
vibhendu <vibh...@hotmail.com> wrote -
>
> with Lalit.In addition there is Devki Pandit who playbacked for J-L in
> 'Woh to hai albela' in 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa' and Shiv Hari in 'Darr'.
> She was also Naushad 's choice in 'Guddu'.She switched to classical
> singing some time back.Then there was Shraddha Pandit singing for J-L
> in 'Sanghursh' and 'Mohabbatein'. Are Shraddha and Devki a part of
> family?
>
Sulakshana Pandit. Devki's gurus include Sudhir Moghe for
light and Kishori + Abhisheki for classical. Sudhir Moghe is
a poet and small-time MD. Devki had sung Suresh Bhat's
Marathi song 'ranguni rangaat saaryaa - rang maajhaa vegaLaa',
set to a beautiful tune by Moghe. This was around 1982.
Around 1997, she could be seen often on various TV channels
(including an appearance in a special Saregama programme
on Zee TV) singing bandishes. She has not made it to the
front rank of today's concert performers but is nevertheless
a welcome presence on the scene. I especially like her neat
madhya-lay and drut bandish presentation.
- dn
Abhay Phadnis
made it big, but then she didn't HAVE the talent to make it big!
Incidentally, if her house doesn't have fans or lights (para 4), what
electricity bill does her sister pay (penultimate para)? And how many
penurious people live in 2000-sq-ft flats and have various siblings taking
care of their various needs? I rather tend to agree with the poster who felt
that the writer was overdoing the penury bit for the sake of good copy.
Warm regards,
Abhay
"vibhendu" <vibh...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1100f078.0208...@posting.google.com...
Afzal A. Khan
vibhendu wrote:
> >
> > Incidentally, the article seems to show that the singer Hemlata is not,
> > after all, Sulakshana's sister, despite a couple claims to that effect
> > on RMIM.
> >
> > -s
>
I may be wrong but I have a vague recollection that
Hemlata had come to (or been in) Bombay in the late
sixties. And, while trying to break into the film
industry, made her living by singing at various
functions. I recall somebody telling me about her
at a wedding reception, where she had been entertaining
the guests with film songs. This is not unusual. I
vividly remember Anwar singing in Hyderabad hotels,
much before he became a recognized name in playback
singing.
Many people believe that Hemlata was a little "besuri"
and that was the reason she never made it big in the
film industry. Also, she is supposed to have had a
liaison with Music Director Ravindra Jain. But even
this failed to promote her film career.
Afzal