Veteran actor and playback singer Sulakshana Pandit, known for movies like Uljhan and Chehre Pe Chehra, died on Thursday due to cardiac arrest, brother Lalit Pandit confirmed the news. She was 71.

Sulakshana was being taken to Nanavati hospital when she breathed her last. "She passed away due to cardiac arrest around 7 pm. She had complained of breathlessness and seemed a bit unwell. We were taking her to Nanavati hospital but she died before we could reach the hospital," Lalit Pandit told PTI.

Sulakshana debuted with Uljhan in 1975 opposite Sanjeev Kumar and then went on to work with almost all the top stars of her era including Rajesh Khanna, Shashi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna.

Her other major movies are Sankoch, Hera Pheri, Khandaan and Dharam Khanta.

She also had a parallel and equally impressive career as a playback singer and sang hits like 'Tu hi saagar tu hi kinara', 'Pardesiya tere desh mein', 'Bekrar dil tut gaya', 'Baandhi re kahe preet', and 'Somvaar ko hum mile'.

She came from a musical family from Hissar in Haryana. Pandit Jasraj was her uncle.

Sulakshana started singing at the age of nine and started her career in music with brother Mandheer. Her siblings are Jatin Pandit, Lalit Pandit and yesteryear actor Vijayata Pandit.