Raj Khosla At 100 - Meet The Man Behind Sadhana's 'Mystery Woman'
In his 30-year career, Raj Khosla made a name for himself as a director with star-studded movies such as Dev Anand's CID; Mera Gaon Mera Desh, starring Dharmendra and Asha Parekh; and Dostana with Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha.
Advertisement - Scroll to continue
But what made him stand apart from his contemporaries was his mystery trilogy -- Woh Kaun Thi? (1964), Mera Saaya (1966), and Anita (1967) - all three with Sadhana in the centre. While women characters in Raj Khosla's films were hardly just an arm candy or a mute spectator, his collaboration with Sadhana in the genre holds special importance.
According to Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography, a book penned by Amborish Roychoudhury in association with the director's daughters Anita Khosla and Uma Khosla Kapur, these three films were "all primarily love stories neatly wrapped in a thrilling exterior. At the heart of the mysteries were a man and a woman (actually two women - Sadhana had double roles in all three films) in love."
Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography
Photo Credit: Cover designed by Pia Alizé Hazarika
Raj Khosla Kaun The?
Born in Punjab in 1925, Raj Khosla was one of the most prominent filmmakers and screenwriters in Hindi film industry between the 1950s to1980s. May 31 (Saturday) marks the birth centenary of the director.
He cut his teeth in films as an assistant to master filmmaker Guru Dutt before flying solo.
Whether it was experimenting with opening credits, film editing techniques, staying true to genre without compromising on the emotional quotient, or his handling of musical sequences, the filmmaker was a cinematic visionary.
He trained in Indian classical music and came to Bombay, erstwhile Mumbai, looking for work as a singer: he was part of the All India Radio's music staff.
Sadhana As 'The Hero' And Fashion Icon In Raj Khosla's Films
Before embarking on the suspense trilogy, Raj Khosla and Sadhana first collaborated on 1962's Ek Musafir Ek Hasina.
The Hindi cinema of the 1960s and 1970s was dominated by the hero, especially in musical romance films. So to take a female actor and make her the driving force of the story, along with internalised acting and all the song-and-dance (Remember Lag Ja Gale from Woh Kaun Thi? and Jhumka Gira Re from Mera Saaya?), in genres such as mystery and suspense thriller, was almost avant-garde.
(1966) Raj Khosla and Sadhana during the shoot of song 'Jhumka Gira Re', for film 'Mera Saaya'. pic.twitter.com/1vi0nlMpDJ
— Film History Pics (@FilmHistoryPic) February 20, 2018
Sadhana's status as a fashion icon -- the first Hindi film female actor to have a hairstyle famously named after her -- was also a bonus for Raj Khosla's films. Whether it was the floral saree and pearl jewellery in the haunting Lag Ja Gale or an embroidered powder blue saree against the backdrop of a palace in Udaipur in the love ballad Nainon Mein Badra Chhaye (Mera Saaya), the Raj Khosla and Sadhana duo was a winning sartorial combination too.
Raj Khosla, Sadhana And Mystery
According to the book, filmmaker and historian Karan Bali highlighted how the late filmmaker worked with his cinematographer KH Kapadia to get just the right low-key lighting to add to "Sadhana's mystery" in Woh Kaun Thi?, also starring Manoj Kumar.
"... It adds to the confusion that Manoj Kumar is going through, and the way he Khosla makes Sadhana walk so that her face is always within light..."
Raj engaged in an intense conversation with Sadhana, one of his closest friends in the industry.
Photo Credit: Personal collection of Raj Khosla's family
The book, recently published by Hachette India, also states that Mera Saaya had "a better ending" than Woh Kaun Thi?
"While the latter had a series of mysteries and red herrings built into the script, in the end it all boiled down to one explanation: that the heroine had a humshakal, a twin (Bollywood's favourite buzzword till well into the 1990s). However, in Mera Saaya, we already know that there's someone who looks like the heroine. Yet, till the denouement occurs, even seasoned thriller buffs are left scratching their head and wondering what really could have happened. If keeping the audience guessing till the end is a Hitchcockian trait, Raj Khosla was the finest Hitchcockian director India had seen."
Raj Khosla and Sadhana collaborated on four films - Ek Musafir Ek Hasina and the mystery woman trilogy. Why we never got another film remains a mystery.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Time of India
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi season 2 actress Tanisha Mehta on playing Vrinda: Every morning I offer water to the Tulsi plant
Actress Tanisha Mehta, who will play the female lead role of Vrinda in Smriti Irani-starrer 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi season 2' has talked about her connection with Tulsi plant in her real life. Tanisha said: "Tulsi, a plant that holds deep cultural and spiritual significance. It's believed to protect the home from negative influences and bring positive energy, happiness, and harmony. It represents devotion and is a reminder of spiritual values and traditions.' 'And it is one of the plants that I planted at my home after I shifted.." She said that she has become a very 'dharmik' (religious) person. "A lot of people don't know this about me, but throughout the years I've actually become a very dharmik (religious) person. It's not something I usually talk about, but I do have my personal beliefs and practices.' Talking about the rituals she follows, the actress said: 'There's a ritual I've been following for a long time now — every Monday morning, I visit the mandir right below my building. I perform Mahadev Abhishek. Every morning I offer jal (water) to Surya devta (sun), and also to the Tulsi plant. It's a quiet, grounding practice that brings me a lot of peace." The actress is aware of the responsibility that comes with the iconic family drama. 'I'm giving it everything I have. I just hope the audience welcomes me with the same love they've always given to this show. I get goosebumps every time I think about it. I'm very grateful to Ekta Kapoor Ma'am for this opportunity," she said. On professional front, Tanisha is known for featuring in shows like Shubh Laabh Aapkey Ghar Mein (2021), Lag Ja Gale (2023), and Ikk Kudi Punjab Di (2023). Shubhaavi Choksey on doing mature roles as a young actress: I lost my dad when I was 22, had a lot of burden
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Bollywood got National Award, what about TV actors? Rupali Ganguly asks govt., hopes Smriti Irani's comeback can help
Rupali Ganguly wants National Film Award for TV actors Tulsi vs Anupamaa Ever since the 2025 National Film Awards has been announced, it has stirred conversations around winners like Shah Rukh Khan, Vikrant Massey, and director Sudipto Sen. Now, television star Rupali Ganguly has raised an important point, where is the recognition for TV actors? Recently, the Anupamaa actor called on the government to create a National Award category for television regional to YouTube content creators, there are National Awards for everyone, Rupali Ganguly questions, why there's nothing for TV actors. She expressed her disappointment and said that the small screen actors have worked relentlessly, even during the pandemic, while others had the option to delay shoots or work from Ganguly, who has become one of Indian television's most recognisable faces, emphasised the disparity in recognition between film and TV. She told Viral Bhayani, "When a film star works continuously for two days, it makes headlines. But no one talked about how we, the TV artists, worked non-stop from 6 am to 6 pm during the pandemic. I request the government to consider us also. We work very hard. It'll be nice to have some validation."The conversation around her comments gained further attention due to the return of Smriti Irani , former Information & Broadcasting Minister, to her iconic TV role of Tulsi Virani in the reboot of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Ganguly said she hopes Smriti Irani's return to TV will help speed up the process of creating National Awards for TV actors. "It's a big moment for the TV industry. Her comeback could help start this important discussion," she fans have been pitting the two powerful female leads, Anupamaa and Tulsi, against each other on social media. Capitalising on this buzz, StarPlus released a crossover promo where Anupamaa is seen video, calling Tulsi and welcoming her back to Ekta Kapoor, however, brushed aside the comparisons. 'Rupali is a big star. Anupamaa has done what no other show could in the last seven years. It will continue to be number one,' she told Brut in an interview. Meanwhile, Rupali Ganguly's Anupamaa is the official Hindi remake of the popular Bengali daily soap Sreemoyee, originally starring Indrani Haldar. The Hindi adaptation has been produced by Rajan Shahi.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Next year, stay at Bengal hill home where Rabindranath Tagore did radio recital
Long before the world was knitted together by the internet and even before mobile phones became ubiquitous, telephone lines were a luxury reserved for India's major urban centres. Yet in 1938, in the remote, cloud-kissed hills of Kalimpong—now a district in West Bengal—Rabindranath Tagore's voice travelled across the airwaves, reciting a poem live for All India Radio (AIR).What made that broadcast remarkable wasn't just the poem itself—it was the infrastructure it ushered in. For the poet to go live on air from his residence in Kalimpong, telephone towers were installed in the region, cutting through the isolation of the hills for the first as the West Bengal Heritage Commission works to restore the very mansion from where Tagore's voice once echoed into the homes of thousands, this forgotten story is finding its way back into collective house is known as the Gouripur Mansion, a two-storeyed building nestled in the tranquil lap of Kalimpong. It then belonged to the zamindars of Gouripur, a region in present-day Mymensingh, Bangladesh, and over time became a cherished retreat for the Bard of Bengal. Between 1938 and 1940, Tagore stayed at the mansion on at least three occasions, and it was here that his 77th birthday was celebrated. The date, 25th day of the month of Baisakh in the Bengali calendar, fell in mid-May that late litterateur and traveller Prabodh Kumar Sanyal was present in the mansion that day. In his book Debatatma Himalaya, he describes what it felt like to be inside the house when Tagore read out his poem Jonmodin—or Birthday—live on AIR, which was then headquartered in poem now resides in the anthology Senjuti. According to Sanyal, who was 33 at the time, the occasion was momentous not just because of the literary value of the poem but because it led to a breakthrough in the region's connectivity. 'There was no telephone in Kalimpong—it was inaugurated for this occasion. Telephone poles were installed in the hills of Kalimpong for the past few days. The telephone authorities have spent quite the money for this purpose,' he wrote in the 10th chapter of the first part of his was not alone that day. Sanyal noted that the poet was accompanied by his son Rathindranath, daughter-in-law and painter Pratima Devi, author Maitreyee Devi, and a close circle of admirers and friends. It was a quiet gathering, yet it would leave an indelible mark on the history of the Majumdar, assistant professor of comparative literature at Jadavpur University, says that history records how important this house was in the life of Tagore. 'There is detailed description of this house in the book Kobir Abas (or House of the Poet) by Suranjana Bhattacharya. We thank the commission for taking up the task to restore it,' he this same Gouripur Mansion would also become the site of Tagore's last summer in Kalimpong. During his final stay in 1940, he fell severely ill. According to scholars, his condition was so critical that many feared he would not survive the night. But Tagore, then 79 years old, held on. Though he would never recover fully, he returned to Kolkata, where he passed away a year later in building that bore witness to both poetic triumph and personal tragedy has since endured decades of neglect. It suffered particularly during the years of political unrest triggered by the Gorkhaland movement. As the hills settled into relative calm, the West Bengal Heritage Commission took up the responsibility of restoring the house. According to Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chairman of the commission, preserving this site has always been of cultural importance. 'The Gouripur House, holds much significance for Bengalis and the cultural history of the state. The work of restoration is being done and we plan to set up a Tagore museum here,' he restoration is being carried out in two phases at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 5 crore, led by the public works department of the state government. When the house reopens—likely by next year—it will not just be a museum. The two-storeyed mansion will also include six suite rooms, to be operated by the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Limited, inviting travellers to stay in a place where history lingers in every state government hopes to weave this mansion into a broader tourism circuit that celebrates Tagore's legacy in the hills. Roughly 37 km away lies the poet's other retreat in Mungpoo, Kurseong, which has already been restored and welcomes tourists. Together, the Gouripur Mansion in Kalimpong and the Mungpoo House could offer a parallel Tagore trail, drawing cultural enthusiasts from across the visitors eventually step into the restored Gouripur Mansion, they will be greeted by a bust of Tagore—silent, watchful and timeless. It will stand as a sentinel to the past, reminding them that long before satellites orbited the earth or mobile towers dotted the landscape, a poet's voice was strong enough to bring technology to the hills. And that in doing so, he didn't just write history—he broadcast to India Today Magazine- EndsMust Watch
