Nanda (actress)

Nanda
Nanda in Adhikar (1971)
Born	January 8, 1939 (1939-01-08) Kolhapur, British India
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1957–1995 (retired)
Awards	Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Anchal (1960)

Nanda (born 8 January 1939) is an Indian film actress of Hindi films.

Early life

Nanda was born in a show-business family to Vinayak Damodar Karnataki, a successful Marathi actor-director and Marathi actress, Meenakshi Shirodkar (bikini girl in Bramhachari and Shamachi Aai fame). Minakshi's granddaughters are actresses Namrata Shirodkar and Shilpa Shirodkar. Shirodkars belong to Gomantak Maratha Samaj or Nutan Maratha Samaj. Her father died when Nanda was a child. The family faced hard times. She became a child artiste and helped them by working in films like Jaggu in the early 1950s. She was tutored at home by renowned schoolteacher and Bombay Scouts commissioner, Gokuldas V. Makhi.

Career

Nanda's paternal uncle V. Shantaram gave Nanda a big break by casting her in a successful brother-sister saga Toofan Aur Diya (1956). She received her first Filmfare Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for Bhabhi (1957); she claims that the reason she didn't win was because there was lobbying involved. She then played supporting roles like sister to stars like Dev Anand in Kala Bazaar, and did small roles in big films like Dhool Ka Phool.

She played the title role in L.V. Prasad's Chhoti Bahen (1959). The movie was a big hit, making her a star. She then played lead roles, such as one of Dev Anand’s heroines in Hum Dono (1961) and Teen Deviyan. Both films were acclaimed as 'hits'. She was the heroine in B R Chopra's Kanoon (1960), a film that was very unusual back then, because it had no songs. She won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Anchal (1960).

She starred with Shashi Kapoor in a lot of films while he was a newcomer, but they were not successful. But they later had a super hit with Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965). In this film Nanda played a westernised role for the first time and it helped her image. Her favorite song that was famously picturized on her in the film was "Yeh Samaa." (Shashi Kapoor would later declare that Nanda was his favorite heroine. Nanda, too, declared Kapoor as her favourite hero.) She has more films with Shashi Kapoor to her credit: Mehandi Lagi Mere Haath, Raja Saab and Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare.

She had a second hit film in 1965 with Gumnaam, which helped put her in the top league of heroines. With Manoj Kumar, she further worked in Mera Kasoor Kya Hai. She would continue to play heroine roles throughout the 1960s and signed with new leading men, such as Rajesh Khanna in the songless suspense thriller Ittefaq (1969) for which she received a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. After Khanna became a star, he signed two more films with her: the thriller The Train (1970) and a comedy Joroo Ka Ghulam (1972). Jeetendra, too, did some films with her like Parivar; with Sanjay Khan, she worked in Beti.

After a small role in Manoj Kumar's Shor (1972), Nanda did few more films such as Chhalia (1973), Naya Nasha (1974), then stopped. In 1982, she came back in three films, all coincidentally playing heroine Padmini Kolhapure's mother in Ahista Ahista, Mazdoor and Raj Kapoor's Prem Rog. Then she permanently retired from acting.

Personal life

She has been close friends with actress Waheeda Rehman, ever since they co-starred in Kaala Bazaar. In 1965, when she was filming Jab Jab Phool Khile, director Suraj Prakash recalled that a very handsome Maharashtrian lieutenant colonel was smitten by Nanda and had asked him to forward his marriage proposal to her mother. In the end, nothing came of it. Nanda's brothers also brought home many suitors for her, but she turned them down.

In 1992, a middle-age Nanda became engaged to director Manmohan Desai at the urging of her best friend Waheeda Rehman. But he committed suicide in 1994 by jumping from a building in Girgaon that he owned, just a year after her mother died of cancer. Nanda has remained unmarried.

Today, Nanda lives in her residence in Mumbai interacting only with family and close friends, such as Saira Banu. After a long time she made a public appearance with Rehman for a screening of the Marathi film Natarang (2010).

Filmography

• Prem Rog(1983)
• Mazdoor(1983)
• Ahista Ahista (1982)
• Jurm Aur Sazaa(1974)
• Asliyat (1974)
• Naya Nasha(1973)
• Chhaliya(1973)
• Kaun Katil(1973)
• Joroo Ka Ghulam (1972)
• Prayeshchit(1972)
• Parineeta (1972)
• Shor(1972)
• Umeed (1971)
• Woh Din Yaad Karo(1971)
• Adhikar(1971)
• Rootha Na Karo(1970)
• The Train (1970)
• Badi Didi(1969)
• Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke(1969)
• Raja Saheb(1969)
• Ittefaq (1969)
• Beti(1969)
• Abhilasha(1968)
• Juari(1968)
• Parivar(1967)
• Pati Patni(1966)
• Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare(1966)
• Bedaag(1965)
• Akash Deep(1965)
• Mera Qasoor Kya Hai(1965)
• Mohabbat Isko Kehte Hain(1965)
• Gumnaam (1965)
• Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965)
• Teen Deviyan (1965)
• Kaise Kahoon(1964)
• Nartaki(1963)
• Aaj Aur Kal (1963)
• Mehndi Lagi Mere Haath (1962)
• Aashiq (1962)
• Char Diwari (1961)
• Hum Dono (1961)
• Amar Rahe Yeh Pyar (1961)
• Kanoon (1960)
• Usne Kaha Tha (1960)
• Kala Bazaar (1960)
• Anchal (film) (1960)
• Apna Ghar(1960)
• Jo Hua So Bhool Jaa(1960)
• Chhoti Bahen (1959)
• Barkha (1959)
• Qaidi No.911 (1959)
• Agra Road (1959)
• Naya Sansar (1957)
• Pehli Raat (1959)
• Chand Mere Aaja (1958)
• Saakshi Gopal (1957)
• Dhool Ka Phool (1959)
• Bhabhi (1957)
• Zara Bachke (1957)
• Dulhan (1957)
• Bandi (1957)
• Luxmi (1957)
• Ram Luxman (1957)
• Toofan Aur Deeya (1956)
• Angaray (1954)-AS CHILD ARTIST-AS BABY NANDA
• Jagat Guru (1954)-AS CHILD ARTIST
• Shankaracharya (1954)-AS CHILD ARTIST
• Jaggu (1952)-AS CHILD ARTIST
• Mandir (1948)-AS CHILD ARTIST

Awards and nominations

• Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress in a Supporting Role — Bhabhi (1957)
• Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award — Aanchal (1960)
• Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress — Ittefaq (1969)
• Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress in a Supporting Role — Ahista Ahista
• Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress in a Supporting Role — Prem Rog (1982)

External links

• Nanda (actress) at the Internet Movie Database
• [1] Veteran actress Nanda makes a rare appearance
• rediff.com (URL accessed 7-Apr-06)
• [2] Nanda