Nawab Banoo / IMDb

In 1948, in the aftermath of the Partition and Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, Nawab Banoo left her home in Fatehabad in Haryana to escape the communal fires.

The doe-eyed teenager arrived in Bombay, the City of Dreams, accompanied by her grandmother: They first stayed with her khala (aunt), Sitara, who was also an actress and went under the screen name Jyoti. She was married to the noted filmmaker. and music composer, GM Durrani.

Producer-director Mehboob Khan, who had worked with Nawab Banoo's mother, Wahidan Bai, offered them a room in their home, where they moved in.

Also Read: Filmmaker Mukesh Modi to host Indie Film Festival Awards in New York

Nawah Banoo's mother Wahidan had got into the film industry to keep the kitchen fires running. While she was busy facing the camera in Bombay, she preferred her daughter stay with her grandmother in Haryana. So Nawab Banoo had very little exposure to the film industry despite having a mom who was an actress.

A trained Hindustani classical singer from Agra's Kinari Bazaar, Wahidan Bai had moved to Meerut after marrying Abdul Hakim, whose father was a military contractor. Hakim inherited the business from him, but was swindled of all his wealth. The impoverished family then shifted to Kolkata where Hakim started a leather business. But that also failed, and then, on the recommendation of their neighbour, director AR Kardar, he landed a small role in a film. But overcome by nerves, he ran away from the shoot.

A desperate Wahidan Bai then came forward, and on Kardar's recommendation, she landed the role of a singing jogan in the 1938 film Rickshawala. Impressed by her voice and looks, filmmaker Chandulal Shah hired her on a monthly salary for his Ranjit Studio in Bombay and the family breathed a sigh of relief and moved to the bustling city.

Wahidan Bai went on to feature in a number of films, including Secretary, Comrades, Thokar and Mehboob Khan's fantasy drama, Alibaba. She acted in eight films and sang for 11 before death snatched her away, leaving her seven-year-old daughter in the care of her grandparents.
When Nawab Banoo and her grandmother moved into his home, Mehboob Khan was shooting Andaz. He had pulled off a casting coup, bringing together Raj Kapoor, Nargis and Dilip Kumar for the love triangle.

It was a film well ahead of its time, with Dilip Kumar playing a grey character who misunderstands friendship for pyaar and is eventually shot dead by the girl he had loved posessively and obsessively. Her husband, played by Raj Kapoor, also misunderstands this relationship and his testimony sends Nargis's Neeta to jail.

The producer-director invited his guests to come and watch the shoot. Sitting quietly beside the legendary Jaddan Bai, a contemporary of her mother's, 15-year-old Nawab Banoo caught the eye of Raj Kapoor when he came to pay his respect to Nargis's mother.

The actor had made his debut as a director with Aag the previous year and was planning his next production, Barsaat. He had already decided to cast Nargis opposite him, but was looking for a new face to play the second lead. Nawab Banoo's natural sensuality and innocence caught his eye and he turned back to ask, "Ei ladki, tumhara naam kya hai?" It took the tongue-tied girl five minutes to reply.

A few days later, she was called to Mehboob Studio for an audition with a few other aspirants. Overcome by nervousness, Nawab Banoo spoke the emotional lines she had been given with tears rolling down her face. As soon as 'Cut' was announced, a loud cheer went up and everyone started clapping, believing that she had been overwhelmed by real emotion. As sweets were distributed, a bemused Nawab Banoo wondered what they were celebrating and was told that she had passed the test. She was the second leading lady of Barsaat.

The film brought along a new name. Nawab Banoo was re-christened Nimmi by Raj Kapoor, after Nargis's character in Ang. Prem Nath who as Gopal woos her and leaves her, unwed and pregnant, with the promise that he will return when the skies open up, wasn't happy to be paired with a new girl. Raj Kapoor however stood up for the debutante, telling everyone that Nimmi would become a bigger star than all of them.

Nimmi's Neela waits eternally for the rains and her Gopal to come back and make their relationship official. When he finally does, it's too late. "Bahut der kar di babu," she told Prem Nath in her first scene, carrying it off with applause and getting an approving nod even from her reluctant co-star.

As word went around about this newcomer Nimmi was being wooed by the biggest and the best in Bollywood. Surprisingly, she chose not to take up any of these plum offers, preferring to wait for Barsaat to be her first film.

The film opened on April 22, 1949, and despite an 'Adult certificate, was the year's biggest grosser. And while Raj and Nargis set the screen on fire with their uninhibited passion, going on to become huge stars, it was Nimmi who walked away with public sympathy and some of Lata Mangeshkar's best songs, including Jiya beqaraar hai, Barsaat mein hum se mile tum and Patli kamar.

She reunited with Raj Kapoor for Banwra the following year. He remained her rakhi brother till he passed away.

She also got to work with the third lead actor of Andaz, Dilip Kumar. They were paired in Deedar, in 1951, another story of unfulfilled love. The duo went on to do Aan, Daag, Amar and Uran Khatola, between 1952 and 1955.

Mehboob Khan's exotic adventure drama Aan was India's first technicolour film. The most expensive film at the time, it introduced Nadira in the lead, as princess Rajshree. Nimmi played the tragedienne Mangala who pines for Jai played by Dilip Kumar. He doesn't love her and she consumes poison to save herself from the unwelcome advances of the villain prince played by Prem Nath.

Aan was subtitled in 17 languages and released in 28 countries, including Japan. Once again, Nimmi walked away with all the accolades and public sympathy, so much so that Aan's Tamil version was named after her character, as also the French version, Mangala, fille des Indes-Mangala, the Girl of India.

At the London premiere of the English version, titled Savage Princess, Australian-American actor Errol Flynn had reportedly tried to greet Nimmi by gallantly kissing her hand. She had pulled her hand away, telling him sternly she was an Indian girl and he "couldn't do this", grabbing the next day's headlines as the "un-kissed girl of India".

At the London premiere, Nimmi also received four Hollywood film offers, including one from actor, producer, director Cecil B. DeMille. She turned them all down and returned home to rule the Indian box-office with Basant Bahar, Sohni Mahiwal and Angulimala.

However, she made some wrong career decisions, turning down films like Sadhana and Saraswati Chandra, which worked wonders for Vyjayanthimala and Nutan, and opting for the sister's role in Mere Mehboob, leaving the field open for the heroine Sadhana, who became an overnight star.

There were interesting films like Sohrab Modi's Kundan, in which she had a memorable double role of mother and daughter, Donka, which she produced and Pooja Ke Phool, in which her character was blind. But, somewhere along the way, she lost her way, perhaps because her personal life began to take precedence over her career after she lost her heart to Ali Reza. In 1965, for her films, including but her dreams now she married the writer who had penned the dialogues Barsaat, Aan and Amar. She missed the archlights, centered around her home and husband.

She wanted to produce more films. She wanted her husband to become a director like Kamal Amrohi, but Ali Reza was happy being a writer. And after a while, she was content mothering her nephew whom she adopted after her sister's untimely demise. Officially, Nimmi's last film was Phani Majumdar's Akashdeep in 1965 though K Asif's Love And God, which took 26 years to complete, released in 1986.

The epic love story started in black and white with Bharat Bhushan, then, was reshot in colour with Guru Dutt, and after his death, restarted with Sanjeev Kumar. By the time Love And God saw the light of the day, both K Asif and Sanjeev Kumar had passed away and Nimmi sadly admitted that it was not the film they had set out to make.

She lost her husband in 2007, and herself passed away on March 25, 2020, at the age of 88, following a prolonged illness. Her grace, dignity and the songs she sportingly continued to sing during interviews made her unforgettable till the end.