Actress Nimmi, who marked her debut in front of the camera with ‘Barsaat,’ passed away on Wednesday. The 87-year-old actress was admitted to a Juhu hospital after she completed of breathlessness. She passed away this evening. She had been unwell for quite some time.
Veteran star of the 1950s and 60s Hindi movies Nimmi passed away. She was born as Nawab Banoo and was later known by her screen name ‘Nimmi.’ Nimmi acted in the era of 1950s and 60s in various popular movies, including ‘Aan,’ ‘Barsaat,’ and ‘Deedar.’ Her last film was ‘Love and God.’
Nimmi was born in Agra on February 18, 1933, as Nawab Banoo to a Muslim courtesan named Wahidan. Her father was a military contractor, Abdul Hakim. When she was only 11, her mother passed away, and Nimmi went to Abbottabad to live with her maternal grandmother. Post Partition in 1947, when Abbottabad went to Pakistan, Nimmi’s grandmother shifted to Mumbai to live in India. That’s where Nimmi’s Bollywood connection came in, because her grandmother’s other daughter, Jyoti, was a onetime actress, and Jyoti’s husband GM Durrani was a renowned playback singer and composer.
Throughout the 50s and 60s, Nimmi appeared in classic Hindi films like Amar, Barsaat, Uran Khatola, Basant Bahar, Mere Mehboob, and Pooja Ke Phool. Born Nawab Banoo, she was christened ‘Nimmi’ by Raj Kapoor, who had spotted her on the sets of his film Andaz. She was also a frequent collaborator of Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar.
Nimmi’s last appearance was in K Asif’s Love And God, which got a delayed-release in 1986. Nimmi was married to screenwriter-director S Ali Raza. The veteran filmmaker had passed away in 2007.
Several celebrities mourned Nimmi’s passing. A tweet from Dilip Kumar’s handle read: “Message from Saira Banu Khan: Dilip Sahab and I are feeling a deep sense of personal loss at the passing away of our beloved #Nimmiji.”
She would go on to work with Dilip Kumar again in films like Mehboob Khan’s ambitious Aan and Amiya Chakravarty’s Daag the next year. By the time she reunited with Dev Anand in Chetan Anand’s 1952 release Aandhiyan, Nimmi was already a popular Bollywood name.
