Sulakshana Pandit

Sulakshana Pandit
File:Sulakshana Pandit actress.jpg Sulakshana Pandit, Indian playback singer and actress
Also known as	Sulakshna
Born	12 July 1954 Raigarh, Madhya Pradesh, India
Died	6 November 2025 (aged 71) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Genres	Playback singing, performing artist
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress
Years active	1975–1988

Sulakshana Pandit (12 July 1954 – 6 November 2025) was an Indian playback singer and film actress who worked in Bollywood during the 1970s and 1980s. She belonged to the Mewati Gharana. Pandit was the elder sister of the music director duo Jatin-Lalit and former actress Vijayta Pandit.

Career

Sulakshana's career as an actress spanned the 1970s and early '80s. As a leading lady she has worked with most of the top actors of the 1970s like Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Shashi Kapoor and Shatrughan Sinha. Her acting career began with the suspense thriller Uljhan in 1975, opposite Sanjeev Kumar. In Anil Ganguly's Sankoch (1976), which was based on the novel Parineeta, she portrayed Lolita. Her other popular films include Hera Pheri, Apnapan, Khandaan, Chehre Pe Chehra, Dharam Kanta and Waqt Ki Deewar.

She acted in a Bengali movie Bandie 1978, where she was paired opposite Uttam Kumar.

Sulakshana had a singing career alongside her acting one. She began her singing career as a child singer singing the popular song "Saat Samundar Paar se" with Lata Mangeshkar in the 1967 film Taqdeer. Thereafter, she recorded with famed musicians such as Kishore Kumar and Hemant Kumar. She sang in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya and Gujarati. In 1980, she released an album titled Jazbaat (HMV), wherein she rendered ghazals. She sang duets with accomplished singers such as Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Shailender Singh, Yesudas, Mahendra Kapoor and Udit Narayan. She sang under music directors such as Shankar Jaikishan, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyanji Anandji, Kanu Roy, Bappi Lahiri, Usha Khanna, Rajesh Roshan, Khayyam, Rajkamal and several others. In 1986, Sulakshana was one of the singers to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London to celebrate the "Festival of Indian Music" Concert along with acclaimed Music Directors Laxmikant Pyarelal and singers Manhar, Shabbir Kumar, Nitin Mukesh and Anuradha Paudwal.

Her voice was last heard in an alaap in the song "Saagar Kinare Bhi Do Dil" from the movie Khamoshi the musical (1996), which was composed by her brothers Jatin and Lalit.

Personal life and death

Sulakshana came from a musical family originating from Pilimandori Village in Hissar (now Fatehabad) district of Haryana state. The famous classical vocalist and legendary Pandit Jasraj was her uncle. Ex Rajgarh MP & Jan Sangh leader Vasant Kumar Pandit was also her uncle. She started singing at the age of nine. Her elder brother Mandheer Pandit (who was earlier a music composer in the 1980s with Jatin Pandit as the duo Mandheer–Jatin) was her constant companion in Mumbai; they performed and sang on stage until Sulakshana became a leading playback singer through many of their live concerts with legends such as Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi.

She had three brothers (Mandheer, Jatin and Lalit Pandit) and three sisters (Maya Anderson, Sandhya Singh and Vijayta Pandit). Her father Pratap Narain Pandit was an accomplished classical vocalist. Pandit's nephew, Yash Pandit, is an Indian television actor. Nieces Shraddha Pandit and Shweta Pandit are playback singers. Her cousin is playback singer Hemlata.

Pandit never married, after actor Sanjeev Kumar turned down her marriage proposal. She fell on hard times after she stopped getting work. Her sister Vijayta Pandit and brother-in-law, music composer Aadesh Shrivastava, had plans to compose a devotional album for her, but Aadesh died before he could. She broke her hip bone when she fell in the bathroom. Pandit made rare public appearances after her four surgeries that left her impaired. She gave a full length radio interview wherein she spoke about her acting and singing career to RJ Vijay Akela in July 2017.

Pandit died from a cardiac arrest on 6 November 2025, at the age of 71.

Filmography

As singer

Year	Movie	Song	Co-singer(s)
1971	Door Ka Raahi	"Beqarar-e-dil Tu Gaaye Ja"	Kishore Kumar
1975	Chalte Chalte	"Sapnon Ka Raja Koi"	Shailender Singh
1975	Chalte Chalte	"Jaana Kahan Hai"	Bappi Lahiri
1975	Uljhan	"Aaj Pyare Pyare Se Lagte"	Kishore Kumar
1975	Sankalp	"Tu Hi Saagar Hai Tu Hi Kinara"
1975	Salaakhen	"Chal Chal Kahin Akele Mein"	Hemlata
1977	Apnapan	"Somwar Ko Hum Mile"	Kishore Kumar

As actress

Year	Film	Character/Role	Costar
1975	Uljhan	Karuna	Sanjeev Kumar
1975	Raaja	Rani	Rishi Kapoor
1975	Salaakhen	Seema	Shashi Kapoor
1976	Hera Pheri	Asha	Vinod Khanna
1976	Sankoch	Lalita	Jeetendra
1976	Bundalbaaz	Nisha Sharma	Rajesh Khanna
1977	Apnapan	Radhika	Jeetendra
1977	Kasam Khoon Ki	Radha	Jeetendra
1978	Phaansi	Chhaya	Shashi Kapoor
1978	Bandie	Princess Radha Singh	Uttam Kumar
1979	Khandaan	Usha	Jeetendra
1980	Garam Khoon	Rama	Vinod Khanna
1981	Waqt Ki Deewar	Priya	Sanjeev Kumar
1981	Chehre Pe Chehra	Diana	Sanjeev Kumar
1981	Raaz	Seema	Raj Babbar
1982	Dharam Kanta	Chanda	Jeetendra
1982	Dil Hi Dil Mein	Asha Singh	Navin Nischol, Vinod Mehra
1985	Kaala Sooraj	Karuna	Shatrughan Sinha
1987	Goraa	Roopa	Rajesh Khanna
1987	Madadgaar	Sunita	Jeetendra
1988	Do Waqt Ki Roti	Ganga	Sanjeev Kumar

Awards

• Filmfare Best Female Playback Award in 1975 for the song "Tu Hi Saagar Hai Tu Hi Kinara" in Sankalp (1975)
• Miyan Tansen Award in 1975 for the song "Tu Hi Saagar Hai Tu Hi Kinara" in Sankalp
• Nominated for Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for rendering the classical "Bandhi Re Kahe Preet" in Sankoch (1976)

References

• Sulakshana Pandit at IMDb