Nimmi

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From Nawab Banno to Nimmi Bollywood actress Nimmi’s real name was Nawab Banno. Recalling her early days, Nimmi in an interview said, “During the British Raj there was a craze among Indian’s to have the title of Nawab. My maternal grandfather was a small zamindar hence he tried hard to win the title of Nawab but when he could get the title he named me as Nawabsaab, till he died. But my naani called me Banno. But when I was introduced in films Raj Kapoor changed my name to Nimmi.” Nimmi was introduced to Bollywood through her actress mother Nawab Banoo was born in Agra and since her mother Wahidan was a singer and film actress she had good contacts with filmmaker Mehboob Khan (Who made Mother India film). However at the age of 11 Nimmi’s mother expired and Nimmi was brought up by her grandmother, who lived in Abbottabad (Now Pakistan). During Indo Pak partition both Nimmi and her grandmother came to Mumbai and stayed at her aunty Jyoti, a leading film star. Jyoti’s husband too was a film celebrity G. M. Durrani, an admired playback singer, actor and music director. Through their contact she came into Bollywood

Nimmi married script writer Ali Raza Though Nimmi was initially linked with Dilip Kumar but they were all unfounded rumors as Dilip Kumar was romantically involved with Madhubala and Nimmi had fallen in love with S Ali Raza, the script writer and dialogue writer of her debut film Barsaat. Later during the making of her other films like Aan (1952) and Amar (1954) which were also written by S Ali Raza; the two came close and married in the mid-1960s after her last film Akashdeep (1965) opposite Ashok Kumar. The two had a successful marriage but had no children. She had adopted a son.

Raj Kapoor spotted Nimmi at Mehbob Khan’s filmy party At the success party of Mehboob Khan’s film Andaz, Raj Kapoor spotted Nimmi who had attended the party with her aunty Jyoti. While she was sitting with her aunty and actress Nargis’ mother Jaddanbai. Raj Kapoor spotted her and began staring her. Recalling the episode Nimmi said, “During the party when everybody was enjoying, Raj Kapoor kept staring at me and I felt embarrassed. Hence I told my aunty of his glances. Raj Kapoor understood. Hence he approached Mehboob Khan and told him that he was interested in me for a role in his upcoming film.” She added, “Later Sardar Akhtar Appa (Mehboob Khan’s wife) called my aunty and told her that Raj sahab was interested in offering me a film. I was called for screen test and given a long duologue, which I uttered without fear. I was selected opposite Premnath in Raj Kapoor’s film Barsaat. The film was a huge hit and I became a star overnight.” The Dilip Kumar and Nimmi Jodi With the huge success of Aan the Dilip Kumar and Nimmi Jodi became quite popular. In fact Dilip Kumar was so bowled over by Nimmi’s spontaneous performance in Aan that he found it quite comfortable working with Nimmi. Thus Nimmi did maximum films with Dilip Kumar viz. Deedar (1951), Daag (1952), Amar (1954) and Udan Khatola (1955). Due to their popular Jodi, the media even wrote grapevine about their romantic affair which Nimmi denied as she was involved with Ali Raza from her second film Aan. Later the duo married. Rise of Nimmi as a popular Star The mega success of Barsaat and Aan made Nimmi A-Grade stars in Bollywood and she was flooded with offers. She had the pleasure of working with top stars like Raj Kapoor (Banwara), and Dev Anand (Sazaa, Aandhiyan), Rajendra Kumar (Mere Mehboob). In addition Nimmi also worked with top heroines as co-stars like Nargis in Barsaat and Deedar; Madhubala (Amar); Suraiya (Shama); Geeta Bali (Usha Kiran), and Meena Kumari (Char Dil Char Raahein (1959)). Decline of Nimmi Nimmi was a serious and dedicated actress and this was evident from her forceful performance. In fact like Dilip Kumar she too did few films and the film which she did she would focus on it with utter devotion. For this she would sacrifice other films like when she was doing Mere Mehboob, she was offered Woh Kaun Thi and B. R. Chopra's Sadhana both of which went on to be big successes and made careers of Vyjayanthimala and Sadhana, respectively.