Ex-Beauty Queen Nafisa Ali from minority community quit films to enter marital bliss
Ex-Beauty Queen Nafisa Ali from minority community quit films to enter marital bliss
Actresses like Namrata Shirodkar, Bhagyashree, and others bid adieu to Bollywood even when they were at the peak of their careers and got married.
One such actress, Nafisa Ali, a beauty queen, national swimming champion, even. worked with superstars like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, and more, quit the film industry at the peak of her career to get married to a Sikh
Colonel and polo player RS Sodhi.
Since she belonged to a minority community, her mother-in-law refused to accept her after marriage and she was forced to live at her husband’s friend’s house.
As a national swimming champion from 1972 to 1974, in 1976, she was crowned the Femina Miss India title and represented India at the Miss International contest and declared the 2nd runner-up.
Nafisa’s debut film in Bollywood was Junoon in which she shared screen space with Shashi Kapoor in 1979.
Thereafter, the actress went on to work in several films like Major Sahab with Amitabh Bachchan, Bewafaa featuring Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, and others, and Life In A…Metro and Yamla Pagla Deewana with Dharmendra.
However, after her debut film, Junoon, Nafisa Ali quit films due to the pressure of her father.
Over an interview, she revealed that she was just remembering herself that stage of her life. When she was young and the film Junoon was made, it was such a huge success and she was flooded with many offers.
She even remembers of having had no family support, and was alone in Mumbai trying to find work. Her father told her girls in their family don’t work in cinema. She gave in to that pressure.
However, soon after that, in 1980, the actress got married to Colonel and polo player RS Sodhi. Regardless, stiff opposition from their families, the couple had a registered marriage in Kolkata followed by a Sikh one at the residence of Maharani Gayatri Devi in Delhi.
Nafisa was not accepted by her mother-in-law, due to which she was forced to stay at her husband’s friend’s house. But after some time, the elder brother of her mother-in-law came and pleaded with her to go home and also apologized to Nafisa.
After a hiatus of 16 years, Nafisa finally returned to films with Amitabh Bachchan’s Major Sahab and then worked in several Bollywood films. In 2004, she contested Lok Sabha elections from south Kolkata but was unsuccessful. However, she joined the All India Trinamool Congress in October 2021 ahead of the 2022 Goa Legislative Assembly election.
For the unversed, Nafisa even survived cancer.
Nafisa Ali was last seen in the movie Uunchai which also starred Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Parineeti Chopra and Neena Gupta. However, the film proved a debacle at the box office.
News Edit K.V.Raman
