Veteran actress Nimmi, who marked her debut with movie Barasat starring opposite Raj Kapoor, passed away on Wednesday evening. The 88-year-old actress had been unwell for quite some time. The actress who was born as Nawab Banoo was known to be Raj Kapoor’s discovery who gave her her screen name ‘Nimmi’. She appeared in films through the 1950s and 1960s. The actress first lit up the silver screen with the movie Barasat in 1949. She played the part of an innocent mountain girl who touched the sentiments of the audience and launched her to fame.
Over the several years of her career, Nimmi worked with Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar and many more. In 1952, the actress starred in Mehboob Khan’s high-budget film Aan, alongside Dilip Kumar, Prem Nath and Nadira.
Nimmi was married to scriptwriter and director Ali Raza. He was associated with penning down the scripts of hit films like Aan, Mother India, Reshma Aur Shera, Raja Jani and Dus Numbri. Ali Raza passed away in 2007.
The veteran actress was suffering from severe breathing issues and was admitted to a hospital close to her Juhu home.
Several Bollywood celebs took to their social media to express their griefs and offer condolences. Actor Rishi Kapoor recalled on social media how the veteran actress gave her blessings on his film Bobby.
Here what he said
RIP. Thank you Nimmi aunty for all the blessings and love for Bobby on its premiere release. You were part of the RK family. Barsaat was your first film. Allha aapko Jannat naseeb kare. Ameen. pic.twitter.com/nsTGhpCpac
— Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) March 25, 2020
Indian film director Mahesh Bhatt also remembered the actress and tweeted.
“ You may win your hearts desire, but in the end you are cheated of it by death.” Goodbye Nimmiji 🙏 . Yesteryear’s dove-eyed actress Nimmi passes away at 88 https://t.co/fRoQWlbuKI
— Mahesh Bhatt (@MaheshNBhatt) March 25, 2020
Popular veteran actress and talk show host Tabassum, who kick-started her career as child actor Baby Tabassum in 1947, also tweeted.
Abhi pata chala hai humari pyari Nimmi apa is duniya se chale gayin hain #rip #nimmi apa meri purani aur suhani yaaden ..https://t.co/eWGL2vhJoy 🙏🙏
— Tabassum (@tabassumgovil) March 25, 2020
The actress was born on February 18, 1933, in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Her father was a military contractor and her mother used to be an actress and a singer. Nimmi moved to Mumbai with her grandmother during partition and soon started her career in the movies.
We offer our sincere condolences. Rest in Peace Nimmi Ji, you shall always be remembered.