साधना बोस

Sadhana Bose (1914–1973) was a celebrated dancer, actress and singer from Calcutta, and one of the glamorous heroines of 1930s–40s Indian cinema. Born Sadhana Sen into the distinguished Brahmo family of the reformer Keshab Chandra Sen — her sister later became famous as the classical vocalist Naina Devi — she was trained in music and dance and first won renown on the stage, later conceiving ambitious dance-dramas such as Bhookh, on the Bengal famine, and Omar Khayyam. Her screen breakthrough came with the Bengali film Alibaba (1937), in which she sang her own songs, followed by Abhinoy (1938) and the bilingual Kumkum (1940). Raj Nartaki (1941), made by Madan Theatres in English, Bengali and Hindi versions, carried her fame across India and abroad as one of the country's earliest international releases. In Hindi cinema she appeared in Meenakshi (1942) and Shankar Parvati (1943) — where she sang numbers such as 'Piya Milan Kaise Jaau Saheli' and 'Naina Panghat Bhaye Hamare' to Gyan Dutt's music — as well as Vish Kanya and Paigham. In later years she toured with her own dance troupe, and shortly before her death in 1973 she was appointed a dance teacher at Calcutta's Star Theatre.