Flashback: Padma Khanna Bollywood’s Best ‘bad girl’ turns 73

Born in Varanasi on March 10, Padma Khanna has come a long way from home. In more ways than one. Born in the Holy City   she  now lives in New Jersey where she   runs a  Kathak dance  academy with her  children Neha  and Akshay. It’s been a long journey for Padma who began to learn Kathak from its most renowned exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj at the age of seven. By the time she hit her teens Padma was doing stage shows in her hometown. Apparently when the legendary Vythanthimala saw young Padma dance she suggested that Padma should try her luck in Hindi cinema. Not every trained dancer becomes a Vyjanthimala in cinema. The struggle to be noticed was long and humiliating for Padma. When she made no headway in Hindi she turned to Bhojpuri cinema where she had some success playing the second lead except in Balam Pardesai where she was the heroine and which was Padma’s big-ticket claim to fame in Bhojpuri cinema. The heroine’s role eluded Padma. In Hindi her most memorable role was in Sudhendu Roy’s Saudagar where she was cast opposite the then-struggling Amitabh Bachchan. Though the focus was on Nutan in the lead, Padma made quite an impression as the coquettish lounger   Phool Bano. Lataji sang an entire song based on Padma’s character Phool bano in Saudagar. This breakthrough performance, which apparently came Padma’s way after Mumtaz opted out is best remembered for Padma singing Sajna  hai  mujhe sajna ke liye . Sadly, Bollywood couldn’t decide what to do with Padma’s dancing skills. So, they decided to accentuate her figure-hugging grace in cabaret items. Among these she is best remembered for Sanwala rang hai mera in Rampur Ka Laxman and more notoriously the striptease that she performed for screen-villain Premnath in Johnny Mera Naam. Padma’s bold strokes of skin display in Vijay Anand’s Johnny Mera Naam was accompanied by Asha Bhosle’s patently vulgar song: Husn ke laakhon rang kaun sa rang dekhoge? Aag hai yeh badan kaun sa ang dekhoge which translates into ‘Baby, which part of my body would you like to see?’ Subtlety being tossed to the winds; Padma was flooded with more offers to do striptease dances on screen. Which she wisely refused. She admitted that it was a mistake to   have done that shocking Johnny Mera Naam number. But she also enjoyed the attention and loved it when she was told that her dancing provided the ‘repeat value’ in the film. In the 1980s Padma Khanna had to switch to playing the roles of scheming women known as vamps in domestic dramas and the occasional cabaret like Kahan hai who deewana in the Dhamendra-Mumtaz starrer Loafer. Padma Khanna’s most celebrated dance number was the Lata Mangeshkar rendered Ni main yaar manana ni in Yash Chopra’s Daag. Yash Chopra was all praise for Padma Khanna’s dancing skills and   thought she deserved a lot more. But by the end of the 1980s Bollywood had moved on to other vamps like Bindu. Padma’s proudest moment on screen was when Kamal Amrohi asked her to dance as Meena Kumari’s body-double in Pakeezah.  Too frail and ill to perform the vigorous Kathak dance steps Meena Kumari’s place was taken in the song Teer-e-nazar dekhenge by Padma with a veil covering her face. In 1986 Padma Khanna played her most popular role of the schemer Kaikeyi in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan. The stint lasted for two years and made Padma a household name. She firmly believed that if she had not done the striptease in Johnny Mera Naam she would have played Sita and not Kaikeyi. In 1986  Padma Khanna married director  Jagdish Sidanah and migrated to the US with him  in 1990. He  passed away. But Padma  continues to  live in New Jersey with her  children and  her dance academy for  succour. Any regrets about Bollywood not being able to classify her? None at  all. It’s been  a  craggy  but  interesting journey for  the  only successful  female  Khanna in Bollywood.