Nafisa Ali: A Beautiful Multi-Talented Star

Nafisa Ali Movies

If anyone fits the description of being multi-talented, then it has to be the lovely Nafisa Ali.

She was national swimming champion from 1972-74. She won the Femina Miss India title in 1976 and then went out to represent India in the Miss International contest where she finished second runners-up.

She was also a jockey at the Calcutta Gymkhana. She made her film debut in 1978 with Junoon where she made a big impact. She has also dabbled in politics. But what struck most for people was her stunning beauty, presence and poise.

We take a look at some of her great films.

Junoon (1978)

Junoon (1978)Cast: Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Nafisa Ali, Jennifer Kendal, Deepti Naval
Director: Shyam Benegal

A reckless chieftain Javed Khan (Shashi Kapoor) is caught in an awkward position during the Mutiny of 1857 when a massacre by anti-British forces in a church leaves Miriam (Kendal), her mother and her daughter Ruth (Nafisa) as the only ones to survive.

They take shelter with a Hindu family but Javed storms into the house and takes the three hostage. Things get more complicated as Javed falls for Ruth. This sparks jealousy from his wife Firdaus (Shabana).

Miriam makes a deal with Javed over Ruth and says if the British were defeated then Ruth would be his. But the underprepared Indian forces cannot take on the British.

Kshatriya (1993)

Kshatriya (1993)Cast: Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Vinod Khanna, Sunjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Raveena Tandon, Rakhee, Divya Bharti, Nafisa Ali
Director: J P Dutta

Two warring Kshatriya families from Mirtagarh and Surjangarh battle each other leading to disaster and death.  The Mirtagarh family is headed by Maharaja Bhavani Singh (Dutt) and the Surjagarh family by Prithvi Singh (Dharmendra).

The plot thickens when a son from the Mitragarh family is killed because he falls in love with a girl from the opposite family. This sets off a huge war which then involves the second generation before peace finally reigns

Tum Karo Vaada (1993)

Tum Karo Vaada (1993)Cast: Nafisa Ali, Anaida, Shammi Kapoor, Radhika, Dilip Tahil
Director: Robin Khosla

Raj lives with his widowed mother Rama (Nafisa). He helps a criminal St Michael (Shammi) escape a high security prison by giving him a few tips. Michael befriends Raj and teaches him a few tricks of the trade. Raj meets Soniya (Anaida) and falls in love with her.

Meanwhile, Rama tells Raj that his father was conned by his business partner Dilip (Tahil). Both Raj and Michael plot to revenge Dilip, who runs a casino. They almost make him lose all his money when Raj learns that Dilip is none other than Soniya’s father.

Major Saab (1998)

Major Saab (1998)Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Sonali Bendre, Nafisa Ali, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Mohan Joshi
Director: Tinnu Anand

A playboy Virendra Pratap Singh (Devgn) is forced to join the Army to inherit his family wealth. He enrols in the Army and tries hard to get himself discharged. But he is foiled by Major Jasbir Singh Rana (Bachchan) every time.

Virendra falls in love with Nisha, the sister of a gangster. The latter, however, wants Nisha to marry the son of a friend. Virendra professes his love for Nisha to the gangster who pretends to help him at first but later gets him beaten up badly. But Major Rana and Dr Priya Rana (Nafisa) help Virendra take revenge.  The major gets him back in shape so that he can begin his mission.

Life In A… Metro (2007)

Life In A Metro (2007)Cast: Dharmendra, Nafisa Ali, Shilpa Shetty, Kay Kay Menon, Shiney Ahuja, Irrfan Khan, Konkana Sen Sharma, Kangana Ranaut, Sharman Joshi
Director:  Anurag Basu

The film deals with the lives of nine people living in Mumbai and their lives and loves and the problems they face. A huge star cast does justice to their tales. Seventy-year-old Amol (Dharmendra) returns to India after living 40 years abroad to spend the last few years of his life with his old sweetheart Shivani (Nafisa).

However, Shivani is sick and and they share a few precious moments together. Shivani dies and Amol regrets that he did come back earlier. He hopes that the others learn a lesson that love is what makes the world go.

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#Nafisa Ali is now battling third stage cancer and we at Pune365 join her family and fans in wishing her a speedy recovery. 

Babu Kalyanpur
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