Do you remember the sweet grandmother from Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham? Or perhaps the warm-hearted daadi from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge who stood by Kajol's character? Or the wife of Balraj Sahni in Waqt, who was immortalised through the song Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen. That familiar face belonged to veteran actress Achala Sachdev, a performer who spent decades working with some of Bollywood's biggest stars. Yet despite a celebrated career, her final years were marked by loneliness, isolation and a struggle far removed from the glamour of the film industry.A familiar face across generations of BollywoodAchala Sachdev was one of Hindi cinema's most recognisable character actors. Over a career spanning several decades, she appeared in hundreds of films and shared screen space with some of the industry's biggest names.She worked alongside legends such as Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Rajesh Khanna, while also collaborating with acclaimed filmmaker Yash Chopra. Though younger audiences may remember her as the grandmother in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, her contribution to Indian cinema goes much deeper.One of her most memorable appearances came in Yash Chopra's 1965 classic Waqt. The iconic song Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen, sung by Manna Dey and picturised on Achala Sachdev and Balraj Sahni, remains one of the most loved romantic songs in Hindi cinema.From radio to the silver screenBorn in Peshawar in 1920, Achala's journey into entertainment began long before Bollywood fame arrived. She worked with All India Radio and was based in Lahore before Partition.According to Indian Express, her entry into films came when she was cast in Dilruba, where she played the sister of Dev Anand's character. Interestingly, one of her earliest roles was that of a mother, despite being only around 20 years old at the time. The role was appreciated, but it also led to typecasting. As a result, Achala was frequently offered motherly characters. Instead of resisting, she embraced those roles and built a successful career around them.During the 1950s and beyond, she appeared in notable films such as Footpath, Naukri, Miss Mary, Adalat, Haqeeqat, Julie, Mera Naam Joker, Sangam and Chandni. She also acted in international productions, including The Householder.Personal struggles behind the successWhile Achala enjoyed professional success, her personal life was not always easy. Her first marriage ended in divorce. Later, she married British national Clifford Douglas Peters and moved to Pune in the 1970s. The couple reportedly shared a happy life together, but tragedy struck when Peters passed away.After his death, Achala found herself increasingly alone. Her son moved to the United States, while reports suggested that she was estranged from her daughter. As the years passed, she largely lived by herself in Pune.A lonely final chapterDespite spending decades entertaining audiences, Achala's final years were far from glamorous. She lived alone in a two-bedroom flat in Pune and was cared for mainly by an attendant. In the last months of her life, she was admitted to Poona Hospital and Research Centre.According to reports, she remained largely disconnected from her children. Before her death, she donated her house and financial resources to the Janseva Foundation. The organisation later used her contribution to establish the Achala Sachdev Institute of Education, which trains people from tribal communities in healthcare and patient-care services.Achala Sachdev passed away in 2012 at the age of 91.A legacy Bollywood should rememberAlthough she left behind a remarkable body of work, tributes from the film industry were limited after her death. Among the few prominent names who publicly remembered her were Amitabh Bachchan and Ekta Kapoor.According to a 2011 PTI report, veteran actress Achala Sachdev was once admitted to Pune's Poona Hospital and Research Centre after suffering a fall at her home that left her with a fractured left leg. During her treatment, doctors reportedly discovered that a blood clot near her heart had broken into smaller clots and travelled to the brain, leading to further health complications. At the time, the actress had been bedridden for several months.The report also stated that despite being part of more than 250 films and working in celebrated movies such as Chandni and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Achala received little attention from the film industry during her illness. Family friend Rajeev Nanda told PTI that he had been informing her friends, relatives and people from the industry about her condition. Moreover, Achala Sachdev may have shared the screen with cinema's biggest stars and appeared in some of Hindi cinema's most beloved films, but her final years revealed the harsh reality faced by many forgotten veterans of the industry.