Sulakshana Pandit: The velvet voice who sang her way into eternity

Grace, melody, and melancholy — few embodied them as effortlessly as Sulakshana Pandit. The luminous star of the 1970s, whose voice flowed like velvet and whose presence lit up the screen with quiet elegance, bid her final farewell in Mumbai on Thursday evening. She was 71, and left behind a legacy woven in music, memory, and timeless charm.

Her brother, music composer Lalit Pandit, said she was being rushed to Nanavati Hospital after complaining of breathlessness, but fate had other plans. She breathed her last on the way. “It was around 7 pm,” he told PTI softly, emotion clouding his words. “She seemed a little unwell, but we never imagined it would be her last day.”

Born into a family where music flowed as naturally as breath — with the legendary Pandit Jasraj as her uncle — Sulakshana Pandit seemed destined for a life steeped in melody. She began singing at the tender age of nine, her voice already carrying the promise of grace and emotion, performing alongside her brother Mandheer before the silver screen beckoned her into its shimmering embrace.

Sulakshana made her silver-screen debut in 1975 opposite Sanjeev Kumar in Uljhan, a taut psychological thriller that revealed her rare blend of beauty, restraint, and emotional depth. With that, a new star had arrived — one who didn’t dazzle with flamboyance but with quiet grace. What followed was a luminous journey through films like Sankoch, Hera Pheri, Khandaan, and Dharam Kanta, where she shared the screen with the icons of her time — Rajesh Khanna, Shashi Kapoor, and Vinod Khanna — leaving behind a trail of roles remembered for their warmth and dignity.

But it wasn’t just her face that the audience adored; it was also her voice — one of pure melody and emotion. Sulakshana was a gifted playback singer who left behind a trove of timeless songs: Tu Hi Saagar Tu Hi Kinara, Pardesiya Tere Desh Mein, Bekraar Dil Tut Gaya, and Baandhi Re Kahe Preet — numbers that still find echoes in music lovers’ playlists.

Tributes poured in from across the film industry as news of her passing spread. Actor Amitabh Bachchan posted on X, calling her “a gentle soul with a golden voice that belonged to an era of innocence and melody.” Composer Vishal Dadlani wrote, “The Pandit family gave so much to Indian music — Sulakshana ji’s voice was beauty itself. End of an era.”

Singer Alka Yagnik, in an emotional Instagram story, remembered her as “a senior who inspired many young singers to blend emotion with sur.”

Sulakshana Pandit belonged to a rare generation of multi-talented artistes who straddled acting and playback singing with equal ease. In her, Hindi cinema found not just a performer, but a personality whose art was born of deep musical lineage and quiet dignity.

As one fan poignantly wrote online: “The screen may have dimmed, but her voice will never fade.”

With PTI inputs