Sulakshana Pandit went into depression after Sanjeev Kumar refused marriage; both passed away on the same date, says sister Vijayta Pandit

When asked why Sanjeev refused Sulakshana’s proposal, Vijayta said, “He loved somebody else.” When asked if Sanjeev Kumar was involved with Hema Malini, she said, “I don’t want to take her name and ruin anyone’s reputation, but the world knows I don’t want to take her name, she is a good lady.” When asked if Sulakshana’s love was one-sided, she said, “Sanjeev Kumar used to come to our home and my mother used to make food for him. We all used to sit and talk with him. He had told the whole story of Sholay to all us at that time. He frequently visited our house. He also liked to Sulakshana a lot and he would sit for hours with Sulakshana after his heart was broken.” When asked if he was heartbroken because he didn’t get to marry Hema Malini, Vijayta said, “Yes.”

For the unversed, Sanjeev had proposed marriage to Hema Malini on the condition of her quitting films after marriage; the Sholay star, however, had refused Sanjeev’s proposal.

Vijayta went on to say, “I can’t say whether he loved Sulakshana but he liked her, and he would joke with her, and he would come to our home frequently. Sulakshana has always been siddhi-saadi and she wanted to marry him and not roam around with him. But maybe he couldn’t marry her because he knew that he won’t survive for a long time.”

Vijayta refuted claims of Sulakshana going mad after Sanjeev’s death. She shared, “She got a big jolt after his death. I won’t say that she went mad. She never went to a mental hospital once in her life. These are all rumours.” Sulakshana broke her hip bone when she fell in the bathroom, leaving her impaired. “She was bedridden for 15 years,” Vijayta said.

Talking about how she died on the same date as Sanjeev Kumar — November 6 — she said, “I hadn’t seen this big miracle in my life. She didn’t leave for so many years, but died on the same date as Sanjeev Kumar. Who loves like this in this world now?”

Talking about Sanjeev Kumar, she said, “He loved food and we all were vegetarian, but for him, we would make non-vegetarian food. Sulakshana never looked at anyone after that. She had asked him, ‘I want to marry you.’ but he never gave a straight answer to her. He gave round about answer to her. He would say dekhenge, karenge, sochenge like that. He never said yes, and never said no.”