Veteran actor Kamal Sadanah is known for his work in films like Bekhudi, Baali Umar Ko Salaam, and Angaara. Now, the star has opened up about the harrowing incident when his father, Brij Sadanah, killed his sister, Namrata, and their mother, Sayeeda Khan, before killing himself. In a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, Kamal revealed that he was also shot during the incident. He expressed, “It is traumatic. To see your family being killed in front of your eyes is…I was also shot. I had a bullet go from one side of neck and come out from the other side. I have survived there. And there is no reason. There is no logical reason for me to survive. It's almost as (if) the bullet dodged every nerve and came out from the other side. And I survived without any problems. No physical problems.”
Kamal Sadanah also talked about how he had to rush his bleeding mother and sister to the hospital after they were shot. He recalled, “I had to carry my mother and my sister to the hospital while they were bleeding. Aur us waqt mujhe pta nahi tha ki mujhe bhi goli lagi thi [At that time, I did not know that I was also shot] actually. To doctor ne bola ki, ‘tumhari shirt par itna khun kyu hai?' [The doctor asked, ‘Why is there so much blood on your shirt?'] I said, ‘No, it must be from my mother or sister. He said, ‘No, you have been shot. We don't have enough place over here. You have to go to another hospital.' I was like, ‘No, you just keep my mother and sister alive. And I also was trying to check on my father what he was going to be doing at that point.” Then, the actor explained how his friend named Abis took him to another hospital.
Talking about how it all happened on the day of his birthday (October 21), Kamal Sadanah shared, “I had to undergo a surgery which was basically they had to clean up the wound. It was my birthday that day. They gave me anaesthesia and they, of course, cleaned the wound. Jab aankh khuli toh [When my eyes opened] I was taken home and I had my whole family lying as a body in front of my eyes.” The veteran star also confirmed that his father killed Shagufta and Namrata under the influence of alcohol.
When asked if he celebrates his birthday, Kamal Sadanah replied, “Shuru-shuru mein nahi karta tha. [In the beginning, I did not celebrate.] In fact, I still don't do it. But, every year, my friends are just lined up. Last year or year before last, I actually said, ‘I'm going to have a small party'. And both my children were there. It was nice.”
Kamal Sadanah also revealed that he still lives in the same house where the tragic incident happened. He added, “I am not the only person who has seen tragedy. There are a lot of people in the world who have seen tragedy in different kinds, different formats. But you got to move on. You can't live with hatred in your heart and you can't have all the issues there. Otherwise you will be stuck.”
On the professional front, Kamal Sadanah was last seen in the 2023 film Pippa.