Raj Khosla At 100: Meet The Man Behind Sadhana's 'Mystery Woman'

There's a Hindi proverb which translates in English to "Behind every successful man, there's a woman". In the case of Raj Khosla and Sadhana, this saying proved to be true, both ways.

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.

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.