Nanda
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Contents |
Sources
1) Nanda had planned a double wedding with Waheeda
Roshmila Bhattacharya,Mumbai Mirror | Mar 26, 2014,
2) Yesteryear actress Nanda passes away
TNN | Mar 25, 2014
Family
Nanda was the daughter of Master Vinayak Damodar Karnataki and Meenaxi. She was the great-niece of Rajaram Vankudre Shantaram. She belonged to a show-business family.
As a child she was tutored at home by renowned school-teacher and Scouts Commissioner Gokuldas Vissomal Makhi.
Early career
After her father, actor-director Vinayak Damodar's, death at the age of 41, Nanda became a child artiste at the age of 8 to support her mother and seven siblings. Nanda started her film career as a child artiste with the screen name Baby Nanda in the film 'Jaggu'. She got her first break as the lead actress in successful V Shantaram's 'Toofan aur Diya', a successful film that revolved around a brother-sister bond.
Mohan Churiwala, a close associate of Dev Anand, reveals that Nanda was not keen to play his Chhoti behen (younger sister). The title role of L V Prasad's Chhoti Bahen and its superhit rakhsha bandhan song Bhaiya mere rakhee ke bandhan ko nibhana made Nanda a true blue star.
Her uncle V Shantaram's Toofan Aur Diya in '56, followed by Bhabhi in '57, had slotted her as the long-suffering sister/sister-in-law. Buzz is that the stream of de-glam roles almost triggered off a nervous breakdown.
"Dev saab assured her that he'd cast her as his heroine in the next film and even though the writer of Hum Dono was pushing for Meena Kumari, he signed Nanda as the Major's ailing wife, while Sadhana romanced the other Dev," Churiwala says, adding that Dev was wowed by the fact that emotional Nanda continued to shed real tears 10 minutes after a rona-dhona was okayed in Kaala Baazar.
But despite the tears, Nanda was all laughter off-screen. Vijay Anand's longtime chief assistant Prem Prakash recalls how much she and her elder sister Meena laughed during the narration of Kala Bazaar, recalling [that] the director as an actor in Agra Road who had accidently dropped his glasses during a comic moment.
After Hum Dono, Dev signed Nanda for Teen Deviyan, whose English version, Oh Boy, Three Girls, never released. These hits were followed by the songless Kanoon and Aanchal . Nanda had received her first Filmfare nomination for the film 'Bhabhi' in the supporting role category. While she did not receive that, she got her Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1960 for 'Aanchal' Suddenly, she was an A-lister but she was always ready to work with newcomers.
One such newbie was Shashi Kapoor. They worked in eight films together, the third Jab Jab Phool Khile turned the tables for him. Nanda too broke away from her 'gharelu' image with her turn as a glamorous 'pardesi'. (Nanda starrer Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965)became inspiration for hit Bollywood film Raja Hindustani (1996)starring Aamir Khan and Karisma Kapoor.) Her favorite song that was picturized on her was "Yeh Sama" from the hit film "Jab Jab Phool Khile" (1965).
Actor Shashi Kapoor acted with her in several films, their most famous being the superhit film "Jab Jab Phool Khile" (1965). He later said that she was his favorite leading lady.Nanda had 5 hits with Shashi Kapoor in 60's - Mohabbat Isko Kahete Hain (1965), Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare (1966), Raja Saab(1969) and Rootha Na Karo(1970) and three films were critically acclaimed but were box-office flops - Char Diwari(1961), Mehndi Lagi Mere Haath(1962) and Huaari in 1968.
Nanda was often compared to her senior, the legendary Meena Kumari. The two finally came together in Abhilasha (1968) but the film didn't prove memorable. (It was known for timeless music, though.)
Nanda did a couple of negative role in her career. In Aashiq, she played a manipulative wife while in Yash Chopra's Ittefaq, she was the murderess. She gambled with Yash Chopra's Ittefaq which saw her play an "immoral character", who dies in the end of the film. Then after two more films with Rajesh Khanna, The Train and Joru Ka Ghulam, she announced her retirement in '72 when still at her peak.
some of Nanda's biggest hits came at end of her career as the lead heroine in Ittefaq (a success, not a hit(, The Train and Joru Ka Ghulam opposite Superstar Rajesh Khanna in increasing order of box-office revenue.
She made an exception for Manoj Kumar, playing a small role in his Shor, followed up with two flops, Chhalia and Naya Nasha, then disapeared, only to return in '82 with Prem Rog, Ahista Ahista and Mazdoor. In all three she played Padmini Kolhapure's mother .
Friendship with Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehmaan and Nanda were best friends: Her best friend was actress Waheeda Rehman, and they had co-starred together in Kala Bazar (1960).
In an industry where Bollywood's biggest actresses are known for their infamous cat fights, Waheeda Rehman and Nanda shared a great friendship despite of being contemporaries. Their friendship started ever since they worked together in the film Kaala Bazaar. In fact Waheeda was the one who convinced Nanda to get married to Manmohan Desai and they got engaged in 1992. Apart from Waheeda, the veteran actress also shared an amazing camaraderie with other actors like Asha Parekh, Sadhana, Helen, and Shammi who regularly meet for lunch.
The age-defying friendship with Waheeda Rehman started when the smiling face of 'Baby' Nanda on the poster of the Marathi film Shevgyache Shenga caught Waheeda's eye every time she passed Plaza Cinema.
It was on the stairs of Central Studio that the two actresses first met. Nanda (then a struggler) who was filming Naya Sansar greeted Waheeda who was shooting Kaagaz Ke Phool, but Waheeda, then a famous actress, was lost in thought and did not respond. The friendship of a lifetime might have been nipped in the bud, had the two not been cast together in Kala Bazaar.
Nanda had planned a double wedding with Waheeda and insisted it would be a love marriage. She got engaged to filmmaker Manmohan Desai in 1992. They didn't tie the knot in nearly two years. The relationship met a tragic end when on March 1, 1994, the director climbed the water tank on his terrace and jumped off.
There was talk of a property dispute between Desai and son Ketan, financial problems, his chronic back pain and depression following the debacle of Anmol, his last directorial. Whatever the reasons, the last time an inconsolable Nanda saw her 'Man' was at the hospital. She remained unmarried till the end. And elusive.
She didn't make public appearances and made this clear to Dev Anand when he invited her for the premiere of the re-released, colourised Hum Dono Rangeen. But she saw the coloured film with his family at a private screening at Ketnav Studio. During the interval she came out smiling, eagerly awaiting the second half when she comes into her own.
Veteran Hindi film actress Nanda passed away on March 25, 2014. She was 75. The Filmistan veteran was known for her good little girl image.
Nanda remained unmarried for life: The veteran Bollywood actress who romanced several top Bollywood actors on the silver screen remained unmarried for life. During the shooting of the hit film Jab Jab Phool Khile in 1965, director of the film Suraj Prakash shared an incident that a very good-looking Maharashtrain lieutenant colonel was awestruck by Nanda's beauty and had even sent a marriage proposal to her mother but nothing happened on that front. It is also said that her brothers brought many marriage proposals for her but she turned them down. Also after a lot of persuasion from close friend Waheeda Rehmaan, a middle aged Nanda got engaged to filmmaker Manmohan Desai but before the marriage could take place Manmohan died after falling from the terrace of his flat in Mumbai.
Highest paid leading lady: Nanda, who has done some unforgettable work was one of the highest paid actresses of her time. She was the second highest paid Hindi actress along-with Nutan from 1960-1965 and second highest paid Hindi actress in 1966-1969 along-with Nutan and Waheeda and third highest paid Hindi actress with Sadhana from 1970-1973.
Some of her biggest hits came at the end of her career: Nanda, who received her first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1960 for 'Aanchal' has had a glorious career. However, one of the interesting facts about her Bollywod career is that the timeless beauty had some of the biggest hits at the end of her career. Some of her super-hit films that released during the end of her career as the lead heroine were in Ittefaq, The Train and Joru Ka Ghulam opposite Superstar Rajesh Khanna in increasing order of box-office revenue. These films not only starred some of the reigning Bollywood superstars of her time but also earned more than her earlier hits opposite Shashi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Dev Anand, Sanjeev Kumar and Jeetendra.
Filmography
1952 Jaggu
1954 Angarey
1956 Devghar
1956 Shatranj
1956 Toofan Aur Deeya
1957 Bandi
1957 Bhabhi
1957 Laxmi
1957 Sakshi Gopal
1958 Dulhan
1959 Barkha
1959 Chhoti Bahen
1959 Dhool Ka Phool
1959 Naya Sansar
1959 Pehli Raat
1959 Qaidi No. 911
1959 Zara Bachke
1960 Aanchal
1960 Apna Ghar
1960 Chand Mere Aja
1960 Jo Huwa So Bhool Jao
1960 Kala Bazar
1960 Kanoon
1960 Usne Kaha Tha
1961 Amar Rahe Ye Pyar
1961 Char Diwari
1962 Aashiq
1962 Hum Dono
1962 Mehndi Lagi Mere Haath
1962 Ummeed
1963 Aaj Aur Kal
1963 Nartakee
1964 Kaise Kahoon
1964 Mera Qasoor Kya Hai
1965 Akashdeep
1965 Teen Devian
1965 Bedaag
1965 Gumnaam
1965 Jab Jab Phool Khile
1965 Mohabbat Isko Kahete Hain
1966 Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare
1966 Pati Patni
1968 Abhilasha
1968 Juaari
1968 Parivar
1969 Badi Didi
1969 Beti
1969 Dharti Kahe Pukarke
1969 Ittefaq
1969 Raja Saab
1970 Rootha Na Karo
1970 The Train
1971 Woh Din Yaad Karo
1971 Adhikar
1972 Joroo Ka Ghulam
1972 Shor
1973 Chhalia
1973 Naya Nasha
1974 Asliyat
1974 Jurm Aur Sazaa
1977 Prayashchit
1980 Qatil Kaun
1981 Ahista Ahista
1982 Prem Rog
1983 Mazdoor
1991 Aur Dhol Bajta Raha
1995 Diya Aur Toofan
