20 December: Remembering Nalini Jaywant on her Punya Tithi

OV Digital Desk
3 Min Read
Nalini Jaywant

Nalini Jaywant (18 February 1926 – 20 December 2010), was an Indian actress. She worked in cinema in the fifties and sixties ruling the hearts of lovers.

Early Life and Career

She was born on 18 February 1926, in Mumbai, India.

In 1941, she made her first big splash with Mehboob’s Bahen, about a brother’s obsession with his sister. There were a lot of shades of incest in this movie. She had two other movies in the same year, Nirdosh, opposite Mukesh, and Radhika. Over the next few years, Nalini starred in just a few movies – Ankh Micholi (1942), Adab Arz (1943), and Phir Bhi Apna Hai (1946).

She finally broke through with Anokha Pyar (1948). The film was about a love triangle between Dilip Kumar, Nalini, and Nargis, with Nalini sacrificing her love for Dilip Kumar.

She became a top star with two of her films opposite Ashok Kumar, Samadhi and Sangram, in 1950. The film Samadhi was a patriotic drama about Subash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army. Nalini and Kuldip Kaur played sisters who were spies for the British. Although Filmindia called the film politically obsolete, it was a big hit at the box office, with Nalini’s most popular song Gore Gore O Banke Chhore. On the other hand, Sangram was a gritty crime drama in which she played a heroine trying to reform an anti-hero.

She continued on to form a hit pair with Ashok Kumar, doing many films together afterward, like Kafila (1952), Naubahar (1952), Saloni (1952), Mr. X, and Sheroo (1957).

Nalini Jaywant became famous with her frothy Filmistan musicals like Nastik, her biggest hit with Ajit, and Munimji, a romantic movie with Dev Anand.

Nalini’s last big, successful movie was Kala Pani (1958), directed by Raj Khosla. Her performance as the nautch girl Kishori is one of the finest works in her career. She’s the key witness in framing the hero’s father for a murder he didn’t commit. She got the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a shaded character over goody-two-shoes Madhubala.

Award

In 1959, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for Kaala Paani.

In 2005, she was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award.

Death

She died on 20 December 2010, in Mumbai, India.

Read More: 20 December: Remembering Motilal Vora on his Birth Anniversary

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