He said no — and she never married again! The sad love story of Sulakshana Pandit and Sanjeev Kumar

Sulakshana died on November 6, 2025, coincidentally on the death anniversary of Kumar, one of the finest actors to work in the glam industry.

It is claimed by media reports that Sulakshana loved Kumar quietly, deeply and lifelong, a relationship that failed to reach the eventuality.

With her death in Mumbai on Thursday, a chapter in Bollywood ended with the tinsel beauty leaving her mortal remains with a soul that hid her unfathomable love for her first onscreen hero.

Sanjeev Kumar's love life remained a mystery, with film folklore often claiming he shared a deep love for Hema Malini, but she rejected him and chose Dharmendra.

Kumar was left wounded by her rejection.

He developed a bond with Shabana Azmi, but that too remained unrealised; his family reportedly did not approve of a Muslim daughter-in-law, reported Moneycontrol.

If media reports are to be believed, trying to calm Kumar's grieving heart on the set of  Uljhan following his heartbreak, Pandit slowly fell in love with him.

“I have never loved anyone as much as I loved him,” Pandit once told Filmfare as quoted by The Indian Express.

She said she once had asked him to marry her while they were visiting a temple, but the actor refused the proposal.

“One day, after his bypass operation, we had gone to a Hanuman mandir in Delhi. I told Sanjeevji that I loved him and asked him to put sindoor in my parting.I asked him to marry me so that I could look after him. But he refused, saying he could never forget his first love,” she was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Despite his rejection, she kept loving him, and his death in 1985 had a severe effect on her mental health.

“After Sanjeevji died, I went into acute depression,” she said.

Like her unfulfilled love story, she passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday night after a prolonged illness. She was 71.

Family sources said Pandit breathed her last at Nanavati Hospital, where she had been undergoing treatment for some time.

As an actress, she starred opposite some of the biggest names of the decade — Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra, and Shashi Kapoor — in memorable films like Uljhan (1975), Sankoch (1976), and Khandaan (1979).

Her voice gave Hindi cinema several gems, including “Tu Hi Sagar Hai, Tu Hi Kinara” from Sankalp (1975), for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer.