Parveen Babi in a still from Amar Akbar Anthony
Her name is rarely Sandra and she's not always from Bandra but for decades, she was an indispensable part of Bollywood films. Mostly, she was the one having more fun than the heroine, hero or anyone else on screen - she knew all the popular dance moves, was allowed to go to parties to show off and was always dressed in the latest fashion.
Usually, she occupied a spot in the scenery behind the hero or heroine. Sometimes, she found herself transported up the cinematic hierarchy and cast as the female lead - but whether back-up dancer or heroine, 'Sandra from Bandra' was always an It Girl.
She was, somewhat paradoxically, considered both religious as well as permissive. She was both a 'good Christian girl,' as is Jenny in
Amar Akbar Anthony, and also sexually liberated, as is the titular lead in
Julie. She was Westernised, sophisticated and non-conformist. Bobby Braganza of
Bobby wore bikinis and tiny miniskirts;
Saagar's Mona D'Silva falls in love with a man who belongs to a different religion, social structure and economic group; Nancy of
Baaton Baaton Mein takes home a significantly fatter paycheck than her Tony.
Now, Bollywood's former party girl is the subject of a documentary titled 'Where's Sandra?,' released on YouTube on September 15. In 18 minutes, we meet several women - some of them called Sandra but not all - and men who explain just what it means to be a 'Sandra from Bandra.'
We learn that it is mainly a state of mind - you needn't be named Sandra, belong to Bandra, or even be Christian. You need not be religious. You might not always be allowed to go to parties or even fraternize with the opposite gender unsupervised. Or at all.
So who, then, is Sandra when she's not called Sandra and where does she belong, if not in Bandra? Does she even exist?
Watch this short film to find out: