sandhya was discovered by v. shantaram when he was seeking new faces to cast for his film "amar bhoopali" (1951). the young woman did not have outstanding features or talent, but what struck the filmmaker was that she had a good voice, one that strangely resembled that of his second wife, the actress jayshree. she later married him after jayshree left him. in 1952, sandhya debuted as an actress in his marathi film "amar bhoopali" in the role of a vocalist, the object of poet honaji bala's desire. she went on to feature in most of shantaram's films. in her next film "teen batti char raasta" (1953), she played an impoverished girl who is considered unattractive because of her dark skin, but who is secretly a radio star with a beautiful singing voice. for the role, sandhya wore dark makeup.