Dire circumstances at home made the late actress Nanda to take up acting as a child star at age seven…
By the time she was 20 she had become a star, unassuming and always trying to promote young actors. She played a key role in helping Shashi Kapoor attain stardom, acting in eight films with him after his debut.
She was paired with all the big actors of that era in films but she claims that she did some of her best work in movies which were mediocre. She took permanent retirement in 1982 before passing away in 2010.
Here are some of her earlier films which display her excellent acting abilities:
Chhoti Bahen (1959)
Cast: Balraj Sahni, Nanda, Rehman, Shyama, Dhumal, Mehmood, Shobha Khote
Director: Prasad
A poor man Rajendra (Sahni) is in love with a teacher but is waiting for his brother Shekhar (Rehman) and Meena (Nanda) to marry first. Shekhar is in love with a rich man’s daughter Shobha (Shyama). Then tragedy strikes.
Meena loses her eyesight, her engagement to a doctor is broken, Shekhar decides to move out of his house after Shobha makes false allegations against Meena. Rajendra loses his house too but vows to take care of Meena. Rajendra then falls seriously ill.
Kanoon (1960)
Cast: Ashok Kumar, Nanda, Rajendra Kumar, Jeevan, Mehmood, Nana Palsikar
Director: B R Chopra
Judge Badri Prasad (Ashok Kumar) has a wager with a fellow judge that a man can get away with murder without being caught. The judge has a protégé Kailash (Rajendra Kumar) who loves his daughter Meena (Nanda).
However, things begin to turn when during a visit to a ballet, the couple spot the judge in female company. Complications arise and Kailash suspects his soon-to-be father-in-law of being guilty of murder. Is the judge what he really seems to be? It is the first song-less Hindi film.
Gumnaam (1965)
Cast: Manoj Kumar, Nanda, Mehmood, Tarun Bose, Helen, Laxmi Chhaya
Director: Raj Nawathe
A foreign trip turns into a nightmare for Asha (Nanda) and others when their plane is made to force land in a deserted place. They are stranded there with crew member Anand (Manoj Kumar). They later realise that something fishy is going on.
A diary found in the mansion and it is written there that that all of them have been at some time connected to a murder and will now be killed by one by one. That begins to happen until a final twist unravels an unexpected ending.
Ittefaq (1969)
Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Nanda, Iftekhar, Bindu
Director: Yash Chopra
A suspected wife killer Dilip Roy (Khanna) escapes hospital and finds refuge at the house of an anxious lady Rekha (Nanda) who is there alone. He threatens her and asks her to hide him. But things become suspicious when Rekha begins to act mysteriously.
Dilip’s suspicions are proved right when he finds a body in a tub there. But later the body disappears and nobody believes Dilip. Later, a devious plot unfolds and Rekha is incriminated in the murder of her husband.
The Train (1970)
Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Nanda, Helen
Director: Ravikant Nagaich
The plot revolves around a series of murders committed on a train which is being investigated by Inspector Shyam Kumar (Khanna). Matters get complicated when his girlfriend Neeta (Nanda) begins to behave strangely once she gets a new job.
Then there is a hotel dancer named Lily (Helen) who wants to seduce the inspector but lands up falling in love with him. But the inspector takes all this in his stride to get to the bottom of the matter.
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