Vijayta Pandit

QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD

Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.

There have been many instances in Bollywood where actresses have started their career as kids and become lead actresses at a tender age. There is Padmini Kolhapure, who was popular child artist and became a RK banner heroine with Prem Rog (1982) at the age of just sixteen years. Sonam started modelling at very early age and made her debut in her teens, opposite Rishi Kapoor in Yash Chopra’s Vijay (1988). Other stars, starting their career very early in life include Asha Parekh, Saira Banu, Rekha, Sridevi, Divya Bharti, Karisma Kapoor, Hansika Motwani and the more recent Rinku Rajguru from the Marathi blockbuster Sairat (2016).

Another such Bollywood actress, who debuted in films at a very young age, is Vijayta Pandit. In fact, she was in her early teens when she faced the camera for the first time. Vijayta was not only an actress but also did playback singing for some big films. Life hasn’t been easy for her but she overcame everything with a smile on her face and tackled all the tough challenges thrown at her continuously. Let us take you through her incredulous life journey…

Born on 25th August, 1967, in Hissar (Haryana), Vijayta’s father was the classical singer Pandit Pratap Narayan, who was the brother of the famous Pandit Jasraj. Born into such a legendary family, music was in her blood and soul. While Vijayta was still in school, her elder sister Sulakshana Pandit, who was almost thirteen years older to her, had already made it big as an actor in Bollywood. On weekends, Vijayta would accompany her sister to her film shoots and trial shows.

It was during one of the trial shows that Vijayta got her debut film. She had gone along with Sulakshana Pandit for the trial of Garam Khoon (1980) at Rajendra (‘Jubilee’) Kumar’s Dimple Theatre. Jubliee Kumar spotted the teenage Vijayta and inquired about her. He asked Sulakshana if Vijayta would be interested in becoming a heroine opposite his son Kumar Gaurav, who was getting launched in a film titled Love Story (1981).

Sulakshana politely told Rajendra Kumar that her sister was just thirteen years old then and still studying in school. Her parents too, initially objected as they wanted Vijayta to complete her education. But Vijayta Pandit didn’t want to let go of this fantastic offer and signed the movie. She promised her parents to complete her education, simultaneously.

Love Story released in the summer of 1981 and became one of the biggest musical hits of its time. The movie plot revolved around a runaway teenage couple (Gaurav-Pandit), who face opposition in love due their parent’s rivalry. Kumar Gaurav garnered an unimaginable craze amongst youngsters while Vijayta too didn’t stay far behind. She was just fourteen years old and had become an overnight star.

Expectedly, many producers and directors lined up to repeat the hit pair of Kumar Gaurav and Vijayta Pandit. During that time, there were widespread rumours of an affair brewing between the two and Rajendra Kumar, who was controlling Gaurav’s career, ensured that his son and Vijayta don’t sign another movie together, as he wanted Kumar Gaurav to focus solely on his career.

For the next four years, Vijayta Pandit had no movie release. The reason she cited later was personal but she still regrets not signing films immediately after Love Story as it could have taken her career to another level. Finally in 1985, Vijayta Pandit resurfaced again with then upcoming star Anil Kapoor in the Indra Kumar- Ashok Thakeria production Mohabbat, which was again a romantic musical with parental opposition as its core theme.

Though Mohabbat was a decent box office success, Vijayta Pandit could never match the euphoria of Love Story again. The four years gap after her debut cost her a lot as her contemporaries like Poonam Dhillon, Padmini Kolhapure, Rati Agnihotri, Meenakshi Seshadri and Sridevi raced ahead of her by then. The coming years saw the emergence of more competition from newcomers like Mandakini, Madhuri Dixit, Neelam and Juhi Chawla, who became established heroines of Bollywood within a short time spell. Vijayta was just not able to get a foothold in this crowded space of talented actresses

After Mohabbat, Vijayta went on to do a few films but most of them didn’t click at the box office. These movies include Misaal (1985), Wafaadar (1985), Car Thief (1986), Afsar (1987), Deewana Tere Naam Ka (1987), Som Mangal Shani (1988), Zalzala (1988), Wafaa (1988) and Jeete Hain Shaan Se (1988). Amongst these films, Jeete Hain Shaan Se turned out to be a big hit but still, didn’t help Vijayta’s career as the focus was on Mandakini, who was the main heroine opposite Mithun Chakraborty.

While shooting for Car Thief, Vijayta fell in love with director Sameer Malkan and they got married soon after. Unfortunately, their marriage was short lived and both parted ways after a few years.

This was a tough phase for Vijayta Pandit as her personal as well as professional life had gone for a toss at a young age. This is when she decided to switch her career from acting to singing. It was not the first time she would be doing playback singing. Her singing debut actually happened as a five-year-old kid in the super hit Apna Desh (1972), in which she sang the song ‘Rona kabhi nahi rona’. As a kid, Vijayta had sung in quite a few films like Ginny Aur Johnny (1976), Dil Sey Miley Dil (1978), Aur Kaun (1979), etc. During her acting career too, she rendered playback for films like Raaz (1981), Dil Hi Dil Mein (1982), Wafaa (1982), to name a few.

Vijayta’s major breakthrough as a singer came in the early ’90s when her brothers Jatin-Lalit stepped into the industry as music directors. During this time, she also met the struggling music director Aadesh Shrivastava, who later became one of the top music directors and also her husband.

Throughout the ‘90s, Vijayta sang for many films which had Jatin- Lalit or Aadesh Shrivastava as music composers. These movies are Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992), Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994), Gangster (1994), Aao Pyar Karen (1994), Veergati (1995), Shastra (1996) and Daava (1997). One of her beautiful songs, which is still fresh in public memory, is ‘Kyu na hum mile ke pyar kare’ from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.

After getting married to Aadesh Shrivastava, life was going good for Vijayta and they were blessed with two children Avitesh and Anivesh. Aadesh became a famous music director. He also made a pop album for Vijayta Pandit titled Propose – Pyar Ka Izhaar (2007), in which she sang along side Sonu Nigam and Hariharan.

Unfortunately, in 2010, ill-fortune struck Vijayta’s family. Aadesh Shrivastava was diagnosed with cancer. His elder brother Chitresh Shrivastava (manager of singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan) passed away in an accident in New York in 2011. In December 2012, Vijayta Pandit’s elder sister Sandhya Singh went missing and her body was found a month later. This high-profile Sandhya murder case became talk of the town with the suspicion pointing to her own son.