Nimmi – ‘The Unkissed Girl of India’

A tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary (b. 18 Feb 1933 – d. 25 March 2020) by guest writer DP Rangan

(When you think of Nimmi, you think of a live-wire, innocent village belle; a mountain girl who pines for her city-slick lover; a courtesan loved by a nawab who cannot disclose his relationship to the world, which the courtesan accepts in suffering, but gives a decent upbringing to his bright brother. A commoner who dares and looks in the eye of the villainous prince. And that takes me to Aan (1952) which has become the reference point for the tagline of this article on Nimmi by DP Rangan.

I have been so far describing Mr Rangan as a septuagenarian going on seventeen. I didn’t realise that the age counter moves up every year. Now he is well into his eighties with the same unbounded energy. He was forced to lie low for some medical issues and computer malfunction. As soon as he came out of this period he was raring to go with a number of ideas for different posts. My response to him has been, now he has to take it easy. Mr Rangan has been the most prolific guest writer on Songs of Yore, and he is familiar to SOY regulars. He has as usual written a thorough article on an important actress who debuted with RK’s Barsaat in 1949 and went on to make a mark in several superhit films as the lead or the second lead. Thank you Mr Ragan for this nice tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary. – AK)

Let us jump back in time, a favourite concept in very many scientific novels/films (e.g. Back to the Future, a Hollywood movie) and position ourselves before Hotel Rialto, London on the 18th July 1952. It is a gathering of distinguished guests from England, India, Indonesia etc. Nimmi is part of the entourage along with Mehboob Khan, producer of the movie Aan. The premiere of the movie in its English version named The Savage Princess is being held. It is the first Indian film to be made in full colour and shown abroad. A few days later a reception was well attended by film personalities from Hollywood too. Dazzled by the charm of Nimmi, four producers from Hollywood, including Cecil B. De Mille offered her roles in their future ventures. Nimmi refused it. Errol Flynn, a leading Hollywood actor, sought  the hand of Nimmi to plant a kiss in the traditional western style. Taken aback, Nimmi declined it stating that she was an Indian girl and such practices were foreign to her culture. As usual paparazzi were buzzing among the guests. Next day came headlines in many papers – ‘Nimmi the Unkissed Girl of India’. This was stated by Nimmi herself in an interview. A truly remarkable way to gather such a title.

Nimmi was born in Agra on the 18th February 1933 to Abdul Hakim, a military contractor and Wahidan Bai, a courtesan, actress and singer. Her maternal grandfather was a dignitary of Abbotabad (now in Pakistan) with extensive land holdings and added the prefix ‘Nawab’ to his granddaughter and his wife christened her ’Banoo’, Thus she came to be known as ‘Nawab Banoo’. Her mother had done a bit of acting in a few Mehboob Khan’s pictures. When Banoo was just eleven years old, her mother passed away in 1944.  She was taken to Abbotabad by her nani and her father continued his job in Meerut, a military cantonment. Partition of the country in 1947 came as a thunderbolt for numerous citizens and she was also one such victim. Her grandmother shifted to Bombay to live with her other daughter Jyoti (original name Sitara Begum), wife of the noted film singer Ghulam Mustafa Durrani. Nawab Banoo was in a familiar filmy territory.

Fate has strange ways of arranging lives of people and Nawab Banoo was a beneficiary. She was invited by Mehboob Khan to visit Central Studios as a spectator to view shooting of the film Andaz (1949) in which Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor paired together as co-actors for the only time in their career. Nargis was the heroine of the movie and her mother Jaddan Bai was present in the studio. Nawab Banoo was very much in awe of Jaddan Bai and was hesitant to sit. Jaddan Bai bade her to sit down next to her. Raj Kapoor came to pay his respects to Jaddan Bai and noted the teenager girl sitting next to her. He was searching for a fresh young, innocent looking girl to act in his forthcoming movie Barsaat in a sentimental and secondary role and felt she would fit the bill. She successfully passed the audition test conducted by him and was selected to play the said role in the movie and thus her career was launched.

Raj Kapoor gave her the screen name ‘Nimmi’ by which she was known thereafter. There is another interesting story behind it. Raj Kapoor was a family friend to the parents of Baby Tabassum and used to tease the little girl for her name he considered awkward and declared she would be renamed ‘Kinny’. She did not show any interest. After his choice of Nawab Banoo as a second actress in his directorial venture ‘Barsaat’, he happened to come across  Baby Tabassum along with her parents. He told them he intended to rechristen Nawab Banoo as Kinny. The little girl of around six years of age took umbrage and howled in protest that she would not allow this. Intimidated by her tantrums, he gave up the idea and instead gave Banoo the moniker of ‘Nimmi’. This has been confirmed by Tabassum herself in her series, Tabassum Talkies.

Barsaat
The film was released on 22nd April 1949.  It had the following firsts (debuts) to its credit:

 
Nimmi (Neela) played her role in her debut film Barsaat as a naïve shepherdess of the hilly area with aplomb, as if she was a born actress. Her love for an unscrupulous city slick (Prem Nath) which ended in her death by taking poison due to a misunderstanding was a peach of performance in her very first movie. The first three songs by Lata Mangeshkar are lip-synched by Nimmi and show her in raptures because of her love for Gopal (Prem Nath). The songs will remain popular for ever and a momentous debut for her. Her very first appearance in movies was as a tragedienne, which she was to repeat in many more films in her subsequent career.

Nimmi had an active career from 1949 to 1965 and acted in 39 films.  Her filmography is as follows:

Summary of the above details as number of films and the concerned years is as follows:

Total No. of films in career : 39

In a film career spanning from 1949 to 1965 with a break of just one year in 1962, the number of films she acted as a heroine is around 20 commencing with Wafa (1950), an impressive feat by itself. She also paired with prominent actors and actresses of the era. To hold her place among a bevy of leading actresses as Nargis, Meena Kumari, Madhubala speaks volumes about her capability. The Table below shows her co-actors who were in top rung and the films with them.

Others to name a few – Karan Dewan, Premnath, Rehman, Raj Kumar, Sohrab Modi, Chetan Anand were also her co-actors in films and they were quite well known.

Nimmi also had her share of misjudgment in not accepting a role as heroine in a few films which became a hit after release.  She rejected  the principal role in B.R.Chopra’s film Sadhna (1958) as she had to act as a prostitute.  The film was a box office success and Vyjayanthimala who was her replacement was conferred the Filmfare Award for the best actress for her role. She rejected the heroine’s role in Woh Kaun Thi (1963), another box office hit setting up the career of Sadhna, who accepted it. The next and last glaring error was rejection of the heroine’s role in Mere Mehboob (1963) opposite Rajendra Kumar which was again taken up by Sadhna. She opted to take the role of the elder sister of Rajendra Kumar with the conviction it would exhibit her ability as a character actress. She received a Filmfare award nomination for best supporting actress for the film. She was a producer of the film Danka (1954) and acted opposite Amar Nath. She sang only one song in her career, Nanadiya jaane na de in Bedardi (1951), composed by Roshan. Unfortunately, the song is not available.

Director K. Asif started production of a film based on his version of the Laila-Majnu legend titled Love and God while he was in the midst of filming Mughal-e-Aazam (1960).  Guru Dutt was cast opposite Nimmi.  His suicide in 1964 led to the suspension of the project. Sanjeev Kumar was brought in; Asif’s demise in 1970 caused another interruption. The film was finally released on 6th June 1986 by Asif’s widow Akhtar Asif though incomplete. It was not well received.  However, the footage showing Nimmi’s part showcased her talent in the portrayal of Laila. I will now put forth a few songs from her films spanning the entire career from 1949 starting with her maiden venture, Barsaat.

1. Patli kamar hai tirchhi nazar hai by Mukesh & Lata Mangeshkar from Barsaat (1949), music Shankar Jaikishan, lyrics Shailendra

This is a song with elements of joy and heart-rending emotion intertwined. Gopal (Premnath) is dancing with Cuckoo in gay abandon while Neela (Nimmi) who is head over heels in love with him is crying out aloud in utter misery for him.  Good performance by Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar.  The debutants lyricist and music director show their future promise.

https://youtu.be/xsa0AYlEm1I

2. Barbaad muqaddar ne mere mujhko kiya hai by Lata Mangeshkar from Wafa (1950), music Bulo C. Rani, lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri

All YouTube videos are nothing but mp3 songs with a still image. This looks like a G-B-G triangle. Casts are Karan Dewan, Shyama, Nimmi and others. There are two music directors in the film, Bulo C. Rani and Vinod. This song is credited to the former. This is a sad song and I presume it is sung by Nimmi.

3. Aaja aaja tera intezaar hai by Lata Mangeshkar & Talat Mahmood from Sazaa (1951), music S D Burman, lyrics Rajendra Krishna

Dev Anand is caught between Nimmi and Shyama.  In the end he marries Nimmi. Seven songs were written by Rajendra Krishna and the best known – Tum na jaane kis jahan mein kho gaye was penned by  Sahir Ludhiyanvi. A long-distant duet, each is longing for the other.

4. Tu kaun hai mera kah de balam by Lata Mangeshkar from Deedar (1951), music Naushad, lyrics Shakeel Badauni

We are now in familiar territory. Nargis and Dilip Kumar are childhood playmates. While riding a horse together, Dilip Kumar is thrown away and becomes blind. As a grown-up blind man he is a street singer playing his harmonium.  Ashok Kumar, a doctor, and Nargis love each other and there is a duet between them, Nazar na phero humse, hum hain tum par marnewaalon mein, in the movie. Ashok Kumar restores Dilip Kumar’s vision and he pursues Nargis vigorously. She had totally forgotten her childhood acquaintance. Nimmi as a poor girl intensely loves Dilip Kumar, but he ignores her. In the end Ashok Kumar is prepared to sacrifice his love. Dilip Kumar realizing his callous pursuit blinds himself and goes back to Nimmi. Nimmi plays her role of a tragedy queen to perfection. I am posting the only happy song from her lips.

5. Main albeli rum jhum rum jhum baaje by Lata Mangeshkar from Buzdil (1951), music S D Burman, lyrics Shailendra

It is a B-G-B situation. Premnath and Kishore Sahu vie for the  affection of Nimmi.  She has set her heart on Premnath. There are six songs, but two lyricists Kaifi Azmi (3) and Shailendra (3). All the songs are well composed and a delight to hear again and again. The song Jhan jhan jhan jhan paayal baaje based on raag Nat Bihag is a class by itself. It is a relief to see Nimmi brimming with joy and flitting around like a butterfly while singing.  Kishore Sahu looks askance in frustration. Premnath is circling around  in full joy.

6. Aaj mere man mein sakhi baansuri bajaaye by Lata Mangeshkar & chorus from Aan (1952), music Naushad, lyrics Shakeel Badayuni

Mangala (Nimmi) and Jay Tilak (Dilip Kumar) are childhood buddies.  Mangala is in love with him. Dilip Kumar had set his heart on winning the affection of the princess Rajshree (Nadira).  A tragedy is in the making.  Sure enough the dark horse Prince Shamsher Singh (Premnath) abducts Mangala. She repulses his advances and in a desperate situation commits suicide to save her honour. Financiers of the film were so impressed with the performance of Nimmi, they objected to her early exit. To satisfy them Mehboob Khan added a dream sequence just before the end of the film with Nimmi as the star performer. It was the first film to be dubbed in Tamil. The French version of the movie titled Mangala Fille des Indes was released in 1954. Here Nimmi is riding a horse and carrying a sword to be given to Dilip Kumar who is swimming in the river and she is singing in a happy mood.

7. Preet ye kaisi bol ri duniya by Lata Mangeshkar from Daag (1952), music Shankar Jaikishan, lyrics Shailendra

The picture revolves around two families in a village. Shankar (Dilip Kumar), an idol maker loves Parvati (Nimmi), but her family blocks her marriage. However she rebels and joins Shankar. He reforms himself from his drinking habits and ultimately it ends well. For most of the picture it is Nimmi in her usual role of melancholy. This song shows her crying for her love.

8. Ritu aaye ritu jaaye (Raagmala) by Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar from Humdard (1953), music Anil Biswas, lyrics Prem Dhawan

The theme of this picture is a love affair between a blind singer, Ashok (Shekhar), and a girl (Nimmi), his pupil, who poses as a blind girl. Anil Biswas’s music is exemplary. This song deals with seasons. The first antara of the song pertains to summer set in raag Gaud Sarang. The second stanza, Barakha ritu bairi hamaar relates to Saawan (monsoon season) in raag Gaud Malhar. The third stanza, Pi bin soonaji describes patjhad (autumn/winter season) in raag Jogiya. The last stanza, Aai madhur ritu depicting Basant (spring season) is in raag Bahaar. The song is sung in madhya laya in teen taal (16 beats). I abandoned the live video as the song was incomplete, and chose the audio version which is of better quality. Grief and Nimmi cannot be set apart and the song, Tere sab gham milein mujhko by Lata Mangeshkar supports it.

9. Tujhko bhulaana mere bas mein nahin hai by Lata Mangeshkar from Alif Laila (1953), music Shyam Sunder, lyrics Sahir Ludyanvi

Vijay Kumar, Nimmi and Pran are the principal characters. The picture is another version of Alladin and the Magic Flame. Pran as usual plays the role of a wicked magician after the magic flame.  I have not seen the movie. This must be another Nimmi movie with a happy ending.  I am uploading a pathos laden song lip-synched by Nimmi.

10. Na jaane kya jaadu hai more saiyan ji ke paas by Lata Mangeshkar from Danka (1954), music Aziz Hindi, lyrics Nazim Panipatti

Nimmi was the producer of this movie, her sole such endeavour. I presume that under her own banner she may not produce a tragedy. Amar Nath was the hero. There were eleven songs with Manna Dey participating in a duet with Asha Bhonsle. Rest of the songs are shared by four top rung  female singers. Nimmi is probably wondering about the magic  spell cast by her lover.

11. Khamosh hai khewanhaar mera by Lata Mangeshkar from Amar (1954), music Naushad, lyrics Shakeel Badauni

This Mehboob Khan production was an unusual film. Sonia (Nimmi), eluding the crude advances of the village toughie, runs away and lands in the mansion of the upright lawyer Amar Nath (Dilip Kumar) at night. They already had a meeting in their village. Sparks fly and Nimmi loses her innocence. Dilip Kumar who is wooed by Anju (Madhubala), is supposed to be a paragon of virtue. But he finds it difficult to own up his responsibility to Nimmi, though he is knawed by guilt. Nimmi does not name Dilip Kumar till the end, and expresses her anguish before God. Ultimately Anju comes to know the truth (Na shikwa hai koi na koyi gila hai) and forces Amar Nath to accept Sonia, sacrificing her own love.  Before the unfortunate incident, Nimmi is happiness personified and the two songs, Ek baat kahoon mere piya sun le agar tu and Udi udi chaai ghata,are examples.  The music director and lyricist have combined together to produce wonderful songs in the movie. The picture was a commercial failure, but Nimmi’s performance was highly acclaimed.

12. Dooba tara ummedon ka sahara by Lata Mangeshkar from Uran Khatola (1955), music Naushad, lyrics Shakeel Badayuni

Naushad’s own venture, the story follows a beaten path, i.e. two women Nimmi (Soni) and Surya Kumari (Raj Rani) are vying for Dilip Kumar (Kashi). Kashi is in love with Soni, but is forced to dance attendance on Raj Rani.  In the end Nimmi sacrifices herself jumping into a turbulent ocean to save the people of the island from sea surge. Nimmi is quite at home playing the role of a despairing woman and several songs of grief are her reward. The film has eleven songs and all are popular even today. The picture unfurls as a flashback and Kashi loyal to his lost love, dies in the end and joins Nimmi who comes in a an urankhatola to take him.

13. Ye baharon ke din ye suhana sama by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi from Kundan (1955), music Ghulam Mohammad, lyrics Shakeel Badayuni

The story of the film is lifted from a novel, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (1862). Sohrab Modi (producer and director) as Kundan is the central figure in the movie. Nimmi plays the role of his niece Radha and her daughter Uma to perfection. It was highly acclaimed by public. Inspector Sher Singh (Ulhas), a duty-conscious cop, is after Kundan for having broken his parole. Sunil Dutt (Amrit) as a young revolutionary (1942 quit India movement) falls in love with Uma. Ulhas, taking his reluctance to arrest Kundan and Amrit to heart, commits suicide. The lovers are ultimately reunited. Nimmi has her grief-stricken moments in the film. I decided to post this romantic duet between Uma and Amrit, though there was a famous song of pathos, Shikayat kya karoon. There was a similar film made in Tamil titled, Ezhai Padum Padu (Travails and tribulations of the poor). Ghulam Mohammad has tuned songs of all kinds of emotions – happy, sad, lorie, patriotic, light, teaser in the movie (10 songs).

14. Main piya teri tu maane ya na maane by Lata Mangeshkar from Basant Bahar (1956), music Shankar-Jaikishan, lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri

A historical drama, the story revolves around the musician Gopal Joshi (Bharat Bhushan), his struggles to regain his voice and establish himself before the King. Gopi (Nimmi) a dancer helps him a lot and falls in love too. Kumkum plays the role of a court dancer.  Shankar-Jaikishan had demonstrated that they are equally at home in setting to tune music in Hindustani classical raags. Major songs are by Manna Dey and also a duet with Bhimsen Joshi. Nimmi  is involved with two songs directly, the above and another well-known and sweet duet, Nain mile chain kahan (Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey). The flute played as an interlude is by Pannalal Ghosh.

15. Sharabi ja ja ja O diwani O kya jaani by Lata Mangeshkar from Bhai Bhai (1956), music Madan Mohan, lyrics Rajendra Krishna

An AVM production and Hindi version of the Tamil movie Ratha Pasam (Blood Bond).  Ashok Kumar, Nirupa Roy, Shyama, Kishore Kumar, Nimmi are the main actors. Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar are real brothers  and get reunited at the end of the movie. Nimmi loves Kishore Kumar. The film was a success mainly because of the towering personality of Madan Mohan as a music director with his golden touch. A drunken Ashok Kumar is compelling street dancer Nimmi to sing and dance and what a song it turns out to be based on raag Tilang and  Khamaj.

The clock was winding down. The number of films were hardly one per year from 1957 onwards. None of these films were in the top range. She was pushed to a secondary position. New faces like Mala Sinha, Nanda were preferred for prime position. She acted as a blind girl in Pooja Ke Phool (1964) and as a dumb and mute wife of Ashok Kumar in Akash Deep (1965).

She was in early thirties and chose a wise path, i.e. that of matrimony. She got enamoured of the noted screen writer S. Ali Raza, who wrote dialogues for Barsaat, Aan and Amar. Both of them got married in 1965 and she called it quits. They settled in Bombay and had 42 years of marital bliss. The only issue was that they had no issue. Nimmi adopted her sister’s son and brought him up. Raza died on 1st November 2007 of heart failure at the ripe age of 85.  She led a lonely life for another 12 years and herself passed into eternity on the 25th March 2020.

A good many of personalities, male and female, rose to dizzy heights of stardom in Bollywood from penury to top rung of the ladder, e.g., Meena Kumari, Madhubala etc. Nimmi was spared this ordeal as she came from a family which had already filmy connections through her mother. Her aunt Jyoti (Sitara Begum) was herself an actress and singer and wife of the noted singer G. M. Durrani.  Her very first assignment in Raj Kapoor’s film ‘Barsaat’ (1949) ensured her a prominent place in the film world. Her career graph was a straight one with no ups and downs. Just when she was in the danger of being pushed back to play secondary roles in movies, she managed a graceful exit from films by her marriage to the film dialogue writer Ali Raza. Her films had a high percentage of everlasting songs. She played her roles to perfection, particularly as a tragedienne. My tribute to her on her 90th Birth Anniversary.

Note:
Mr Rangan has used expressions like B-G-B or G-B-G love triangles. For those new to the SOY, I first developed these terms in the course of general theory of Bollywood love triangles in the review of the film Sangam (1964) – AK.

Acknowledgements and Disclaimer:
1. The thumbnail picture has been gratefully taken from the Internet.
2. The song links have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of music lovers. This blog claims no copyright over these songs, which vests with the respective copyright holders.