Veteran actress Nadira was born on December 5, 1932, in Baghdad, Iraq, and passed away on February 9, 2006, at Bhatia Hospital in Mumbai.
She was born into a Jewish family in Baghdad and was the only sister to her two brothers.
Nadira was introduced to the Mumbai film industry by Sardar Akhtar, the wife of film director Mehboob Khan, and she made her debut with the then-superhit film ‘Aan’.
She worked in approximately 70 films; her first film was ‘Aan’ (1952), and her last was ‘Johar Mahal’ (2001).
She is best remembered for her performances in films such as ‘Aan’, ‘Shree 420’, ‘Pakeezah’, and ‘Julie’ during the 1950s and 1960s. She also won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Brijendra Rehi, producer-director of Darpan Video India, met her in Mumbai in 1994.
Watch our special programme on veteran character actor Avtar Krishna Hangal on the Darpan Video India YouTube channel @darpanvideo :