From Nawab to Nimmi: Celebrating the Life and Legacy on His Birthday

Nimmi alias Nawab Bano

I sometimes can't believe how I have met some of the best and brightest men and women in my life and under what circumstances I have met them, which when I think about it now, amazes me! I had heard a lot about a writer named Ali Raza, like he is the author of great Hindi films like 'Aan', 'Andaz', 'Mother India', 'Reshma Aur Shera', 'Raja Jani' and 'Dus Nambari' etc. Was one of the authors of! I had a silent and secret ambition to meet him one day, which was a means to satisfy my inner soul of meeting as many good writers as possible!

“You are Ali, I read your every article and your columns.”

I had reached the Muhurat of a big film at Mehboob Studio located in Bandra! There were hundreds of celebrities who had gathered in the compound for the Muhurat and as I wished, someone told me that the man standing at a distance, dressed in white, was Ali Raza, one of the writers of 'Mughal-e-Azam'. Were! At that moment nothing and no one mattered to me, and I just wanted to meet Ali Raza. I went up to him and introduced myself and then he immediately said, “You are Ali, I read every article and column of yours” and I was so happy to hear this from him that I felt as if I was flying in the sky. And what was more interesting was that he invited me for lunch at his home in Worli! Their house situated on Lonely Hill was called 'Summit' and when I went inside I was very happy to see that the lady who was serving us biryani was the famous actress Nimmi and then I kept looking at her and thinking Whether this ordinary woman was the same star actress Nimmi who had been receiving love and praise from millions of people for many years. I asked him if I could talk to her for a few minutes and he said, “First you enjoy the biryani, then I will serve you tea, then let's talk” My day after meeting Ali Raza A bright note What had started at a private meeting, had now turned into a celebration with both of them because Nimmi had given me consent to talk to them!

Ali Raza went to his room and while we completed our conversation

And in the next 45 minutes, she told me her entire life story in Urdu and what more could I ask from her? In order not to make me feel any discomfort, Ali Raza went to his room and remained there until we completed our conversation! Nimmi was born in a middle class Muslim family in Allahabad and her real name was 'Nawab Bano', she hardly ever went to any school! She had a relative known as Mehboob Khan, who was shooting for the film 'Andaz' with Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Nargis in those days! A friend of Mehboob had invited Nawab and her friends to watch the shooting of 'Andaz'. Nawab, who was visiting Mumbai for the first time, was dazzled by the world of showbiz! To add to her excitement, Raj Kapoor, who had a keen eye for talent, asked her if she would act in his film 'Barsaat'! Nawab was transformed into Nimmi and in the film 'Barsaat' she was cast as the second heroine opposite Premnath, who played the role of a cheating lover in the film! She also had some great songs in the film and played the role of a simple village girl. The film and its music were a major hit and new actress Nimmi had reached the top! Over the next few years, she was playing a leading lady opposite Dilip Kumar, with whom she did five films, working with Dev Anand and all the other leading heroes of that time and traveling across the country and even That even in Pakistan she had become everyone's favourite, but she was still Nawab, that simple girl from Allahabad. It was her simplicity that attracted Ali Raza towards her and soon after, Nimmi and Ali Raza got married and shifted to 'Summit', Ali Raza's house on that Lonely Hill in Worli. Nimmi, however, never stopped working and was seen in a variety of roles in films as diverse as 'Angulimal' and 'Mere Mehboob', with Rajendra Kumar, Sadhna and Ashok Kumar in other important roles! Her beautiful eyes can still work miracles and even move mountains, demons. And she continued to rule the waves of life in her own way!

Nimmi was the only survivor of the original cast.

After this, the most unfortunate film in her career came. When K. Asif signed her as the leading lady in his film 'Love and God' opposite Guru Dutt. Asif had barely shot a few scenes of the film when Guru Dutt suddenly left the film and committed suicide! And then Asif cast Sanjeev Kumar and after this Asif himself died of a heart attack. Asif's sister tried to complete the film with the help of well-known producer KC Bokadia and Sanjeev Kumar also died before the film could go ahead. And Nimmi was the only one left from the original cast and the film was released in its cut version and as expected, it flopped badly and marked a positive end to Nimmi's career as an actress. Marked. Ali Raza died in the year 2007 and Nimmi could never think of living alone in that bungalow on the hill and she finally sold it and shifted to an apartment in a building called 'Neha' overlooking Juhu Beach. It was done. She had been living there for more than 15 years and once during that time, she had attended a function organized by my friend Dr. Trinetra Bajpai, a chemical engineer of the highest order, who was known for his work in films. , loved music and books very much. Dr. The launch of Bajpayee's 'Coffee Table Book' was the last public event where he met some old friends like Dharmendra and Dilip Kumar and his sister Nimmi! His fragile health was never the same again! And one morning she complained of not being able to breathe and was taken to the local hospital where he breathed his last in the evening! During the lockdown, her last rites were performed in the same graveyard where her friend Meena Kumari was buried.

Today we have many heroines, but we have iconic actresses like Nimmi?

I know, some girls and their godfathers may ask me to differ and all I can tell them is that they are switching on your TV set or your smartphone and watching some movies or at least Here are some songs from Nimmi and you will know what I am saying and why!

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