Nimmi

Nimmi (born Nawab Bano; 18 February 1932 – 25 March 2020), was an Indian screen actress who achieved stardom in the 1950s and early 1960s in Hindi films.

She was one of the leading actresses of the "golden era" of Hindi cinema.

She gained popularity by playing spirited village belle characters, but has appeared in diverse genres such as fantasy and social films.

The partition of India happened in 1947, and Abbottabad went to Pakistan.

Nimmi's grandmother moved to Mumbai (then known as Bombay) and settled in the household of her other daughter, known by the name Jyoti.

Herself a former actress, Jyoti was married to G. M. Durrani, a popular Indian playback singer, actor, and music director.

In 1948, via the connection with her mother Wahidan who had worked with him in the 1930s, the famous filmmaker Mehboob Khan, invited the young Nimmi to watch the making of his current production Andaz at Central Studios.

She had shown an interest in movies and this was an opportunity to understand the film making process.

On the sets of Andaz, Nimmi met Raj Kapoor, who was starring in the film.

At that time, Raj Kapoor was filming his production of Barsaat (1949).

Having already cast the famous actress Nargis in the female lead role, he was on the lookout for a young girl to play the second lead.

After observing Nimmi's unaffected and shy behaviour as a guest on the sets of Andaz, he cast the teenaged Nimmi in Barsaat opposite the actor Prem Nath.

Nimmi played the role of an innocent mountain shepherdess in love with a heartless city man.

Barsaat, released in 1949, made movie history.

It was a phenomenal and commercial success.

Despite the presence of established and popular stars Nargis, Raj Kapoor and Prem Nath, Nimmi had a very prominent and well-received role and was an instant hit with the audiences.

After Barsaat, Nimmi was flooded with film offers.

She quietly polished her histrionic abilities and developed a mannered but effectively unique style of acting.

The diminutive actress, with her saucer shaped expressive eyes, quickly won a loyal fan base with her intense and expressive performances.

She worked with top heroes like Raj Kapoor (Banwara), and Dev Anand (Sazaa, Aandhiyan).

Her best performances are considered to be in the films Sazaa (1951), India's first technicolor film Aan (1952),

To her great advantage, Nimmi formed a very popular and dependable screen pair with Dilip Kumar, after the success of films like Deedar (1951) and Daag (1952).

Mehboob Khan cast her in Aan (1952).

The film was made with an extremely large budget.

Nimmi played one of the female leads.

Such was Nimmi's popularity at this point that when a first edit of the film was shown to the film's financiers and distributors, they objected that Nimmi's character died too early.

An extended dream sequence was added to give Nimmi more prominence and screen time in the film.

Aan was one of the first Indian movies to have a worldwide release.

Uran Khatola (1955), Bhai-Bhai (1956), Kundan (1955), Mere Mehboob (1963), Pooja Ke Phool (1964), Akashdeep (1965), and Basant Bahar (1956).

Raj Kapoor changed her name from Nawab Bano to "Nimmi".

Nawab Bano was born in Agra to a Muslim family.

Her mother was a singer and an actress, known as Wahidan.

She was well connected within the film industry.

Nimmi's father, Abdul Hakim, worked as a military contractor.

Nimmi's birth forename of "Nawab" was given by her grandfather while her grandmother added "Bano".

As a young child, Nimmi had memories of visiting Bombay, and her mother being on good terms with Mehboob Khan and his family, who were prominent and influential within the movie-making business.

When Nimmi was 11 years old, her mother suddenly died.

Her father lived in Meerut where he worked and had another family; by this time, his contact with Nimmi's mother was minimal.

Nimmi was therefore sent to live in Abbottabad near Rawalpindi with her maternal grandmother.

Aside from Nargis with whom she co-starred in Barsaat and Deedar, Nimmi also appeared alongside many notable leading ladies including Madhubala (Amar), Suraiya (Shama), Geeta Bali (Usha Kiran), and Meena Kumari (Char Dil Char Rahen (1959). Nimmi was also a singer and sang her own songs in the film Bedardi (1951) in which she also acted. However, she never continued singing, and recorded songs only for this film.