Sulakshana Pandit

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sulakshana Pandit

• Sulakshana Pandit was born at Ashrafi Devi Women’s Hospital in Ramagudi Para, Raigarh.

• She came from a musical family of the Mewati Gharana, originally from Pilimandori village in Haryana’s Fatehabad district (formerly part of Hissar).

• Her father, Pratap Narayan Pandit, was a skilled tabla player who served in the royal court of Raja Chakradhar Singh.

• Sulakshana grew up in a home where music was considered sacred. She inherited her family’s deep love for the art and carried that legacy forward through her work.

• Her roots were closely connected to Raigarh’s rich musical culture.

• Through her performances, she helped bring national recognition to Chhattisgarh’s cultural and musical heritage.

• During the 1970s, she became a popular lead actress and worked with many top stars, including Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, and Shatrughan Sinha.

  

• As a singer, Sulakshana collaborated with renowned artists such as Kishore Kumar, Bappi Lahiri, and Mohammed Rafi.

  

• She lent her voice to several film songs, including those from ‘Door Ka Raahi’ (1971), ‘Sankoch’ (1976), ‘Sparsh’ (1980), ‘Chehre Pe Chehra’ (1981), ‘Hasrat’ (1986), and ‘Khamoshi: The Musical’ (1996).

  

• In 1975, she appeared in films like ‘Raaja,’ starring Rishi Kapoor, and ‘Salaakhen,’ starring Shashi Kapoor.

  

• In 1976, she appeared as ‘Asha’ in the film ‘Hera Pheri,’ which featured Amitabh Bachchan, Saira Banu, Vinod Khanna, Shreeram Lagoo and Asrani.

  

• In 1977, Sulakshana played the role of ‘Radhika’ in the film ‘Apnapan.’

  

• Her performance as ‘Usha’ in the 1979 film ‘Khandaan’ was appreciated by the viewers.

  

• Sulakshana appeared in many other films, such as ‘Rama’ in ‘Garam Khoon’ (1980), ‘Diana’ in ‘Chehre Pe Chehra’ (1981), ‘Chanda’ in ‘Dharam Kanta’ (1982), and ‘Ganga’ in ‘Do Waqt Ki Roti’ (1988).

  

• Sulakshana was reportedly in love with Sanjeev Kumar and even took him to a temple to propose marriage, but the relationship was one-sided, as Kumar was not interested due to personal reasons.

• Sanjeev Kumar’s death in 1985, followed shortly by her mother’s demise, deeply affected Sulakshana and led her to step away from films and public life.

• Sulakshana never married and remained largely private. Her personal losses impacted her mental and emotional well-being for years.

• In 2006, her sister Vijayta Pandit and brother-in-law Aadesh Shrivastava brought her home to support her emotionally and help her recover from the trauma caused by these events.

• In 2012, her sister Sandhya Pandit went missing. A few weeks later, Sandhya’s skeleton was found, and it was confirmed that she had been murdered.

• Sulakshana’s younger sister, Vijayta Pandit, revealed in an interview that Sulakshana was not told about Sandhya’s death initially, as the family feared that the shock would be too much for her to handle.

• Vijayta shared that for a long time, she continued to tell Sulakshana that Sandhya was living in Indore and often called her to protect her from the truth.

• Sulakshana Pandit passed away due to cardiac arrest on 6 November 2025.

• Following her death, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed deep sorrow and called her the “daughter of Chhattisgarh.”

• In his tribute, Sai praised Sulakshana for embodying Chhattisgarh’s rich cultural essence through her art and said,
  

  Sulakshana ji’s voice carried the fragrance of Chhattisgarh’s soil.”