Remembering Nanda on her 3rd death anniversary.

Nanda (8 January 1939–25 March 2014) was a film actress who appeared in Hindi and Marathi films. She was best known for her performances in films like Ittefaq, Joru Ka Ghulam, Neend Hamare Khwab Tumhare, Kanoon, Pati Patni, Gumnaam, Akashdeep, Bedaag and Raja Saab.

Nanda’s paternal uncle V. Shantaram gave Nanda a big break by casting her in a successful brother-sister saga Toofan Aur Diya (1956).It was the saga of an orphaned brother and sister pair that is buffeted by a series of tragic setbacks, including the girl losing her sight. She received her first Filmfare Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for Bhabhi (1957); she claims that the reason she didn’t win was because there was lobbying involved. She played supporting roles to stars like Dev Anand in Kala Bazar, and played second lead in Dhool Ka Phool.

She played the title role in L.V. Prasad’s Chhoti Bahen (1959). The movie was a big hit, making her a star. In this commercially successful 1959 film, Nanda played the blind younger sister looked after by two elder brothers, played by Balraj Sahni and Rehman. She then played lead roles, such as one of Dev Anand’s heroines in Hum Dono (1961) and Teen Deviyan. Both films were acclaimed as “hits”. She was the heroine in B R Chopra’s Kanoon (1960), a film with no songs, which was then rare.

She won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Anchal (1960).She was paired with Raj Kapoor in Aashiq(1962) and she worked with Rajendra Kumar in 3 films — Toofan Aur Diya(1956), Dhool Ka Phool(1961), Kanoon(1960). In one of her interviews she said she avoided films with Shammi Kapoor because of his “wild” reputation from 1959–72, but later did accept work with him in Prem Rog in 1982.She had quoted in one of here interviews “Many of my great performances were in films that failed or did average business, like ‘Usne Kaha Tha’, ‘Char Diwari’, ‘Nartaki’, and Aaj Aur Kal.” She was the second highest paid Hindi actress along with Nutan from 1960–65, and the second highest paid Hindi actress between 1966–69 along-with Nutan and Waheeda, and the third highest paid Hindi actress, along-with Sadhana, from 1970–73.

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