Nawab Bano, also known as Nimmi, was a popular female lead of her time. The audience loved her bubbly characters in her initial films.
When the directors realised that her facial expressions reflected a lot of pain, they began to cast her in emotional roles, especially the ones where the character made a lot of sacrifices. The actor, with her moist eyes, a painful smile, and a sad voice garnered a lot of attention from the audience.
Nimmi won the hearts of people with her large and beautiful eyes. However, only a very few know that it was Raj Kapoor, who introduced Nimmi to the film industry. She made her acting debut with the film Barsaat and there was no looking back for her after that.
While Nimmi appeared in several films, her performance in Amar was highly praised. Amar was released in 1954 and featured Madhubala and Dilip Kumar in lead roles. The movie was directed by Mehboob Khan and Dilip Kumar played the role of a lawyer in the romantic musical film.
Owing to her outstanding acting in the movie, Nimmi was dubbed as the sacrificing queen of the silver screen by film critics. Besides acting, she was also known for her singing prowess.
In 1951, she not only acted in Kedar Sharma’s Bedardi but also sang a song for it. Some of her blockbuster movies include Kundan, Udan Khatola, Bhai-Bhai, and Basant Bahar.
Nimmi reached the pinnacle of success because of her exceptional acting and singing potential. It was said that she chose the films after carefully understanding the subject. The directors would wait for days to receive her nod, reports said.
Despite the glamour in the movie industry, she was a simple person. Nimmi was friends with the renowned actors like Saira Banu and Waheeda Rehman.
Nimmi was born on February 18, 1933, in Agra, and passed away on March 25, 2020, in Mumbai.
