Debut In 1948, via the connection with her mother Wahidan who had worked with him in the 1930s, the famous filmmaker
Mehboob Khan, invited the young Nimmi to watch the making of his current production
Andaz at Central Studios. She had shown an interest in movies and this was an opportunity to understand the film making process. On the sets of
Andaz, Nimmi met
Raj Kapoor, who was starring in the film. Nimmi played the role of an innocent mountain shepherdess in love with a heartless city man.
Barsaat, released in 1949, made movie history. It was a phenomenal and commercial success. Despite the presence of established and popular stars
Nargis,
Raj Kapoor and
Prem Nath, Nimmi had a very prominent and well-received role and was an instant hit with the audiences.
Rise to stardom After
Barsaat, Nimmi was flooded with film offers. She quietly polished her histrionic abilities and developed a mannered but effectively unique style of acting. The diminutive actress, with her saucer shaped expressive eyes, quickly won a loyal fan base with her intense and expressive performances. To her great advantage, Nimmi formed a very popular and dependable screen pair with
Dilip Kumar, after the success of films like
Deedar (1951) and
Daag (1952). Aside from
Nargis with whom she co-starred in
Barsaat and
Deedar, Nimmi also appeared alongside many notable leading ladies including
Madhubala (
Amar),
Suraiya (
Shama),
Geeta Bali (
Usha Kiran), and
Meena Kumari (
Char Dil Char Rahen). Nimmi was also a singer and sang her own songs in the film
Bedardi (1951) in which she also acted. However, she never continued singing, and recorded songs only for this film. The film had an extremely lavish
London premiere which Nimmi attended. The
English version was entitled
Savage Princess. On the
London trip, Nimmi met many western film personalities including
Errol Flynn. When Flynn attempted to kiss her hand, she pulled it away, exclaiming, "I am an Indian girl, you cannot do that!" The incident made the headlines and the press raved about Nimmi as the
"... unkissed girl of India".
Mehboob Khan asked her to appear in his next film
Amar (1954). Nimmi played a poor, milkmaid seduced by a lawyer (
Dilip Kumar). The film also starred
Madhubala as Kumar's wronged fiancée. Its controversial subject of rape was way ahead of its time and although the film was not a commercial success, Nimmi's intense performance and the film were applauded by critics. It remained the favorite film of
Mehboob Khan amongst his own productions. She acted and turned producer with the popular film
Danka (1954) which was released under her own production banner.
Kundan (1955), produced by
Sohrab Modi co-starring newcomer
Sunil Dutt, gave Nimmi a memorable double role as mother and daughter. Her sensitive portrayal earned her further recognition as a talented and spirited actress. In
Uran Khatola (1955), her last of five films with
Dilip Kumar, she starred in one of the biggest box-office successes of her career. In 1957, at the age of 24, Nimmi received the critic's award for best actress for her role in
Bhai Bhai. These films were also notable for her songs which were dubbed by
Lata Mangeshkar. By this point, with a largely consistent run of success at the box-office, Nimmi had firmly established herself as one of the most bankable and popular leading ladies in
Hindi cinema. In the late 1950s, Nimmi worked with renowned directors
Chetan Anand (
Anjali ),
K. A. Abbas (
Char Dil Char Rahen) and
Vijay Bhatt (
Angulimala). Prepared to take risks, Nimmi took on controversial characterizations, such as the prostitute of
Char Dil Char Raahen (1959). It was during this phase that Nimmi became very selective as she strove for better quality projects and roles. However, her judgment was sometimes questionable when she rejected films like
B. R. Chopra's
Sadhna (1958), and
Woh Kaun Thi? (1963). Later both these film became big successes for
Vyjayanthimala and
Sadhana, respectively.
Completion of Love & God At this point, Nimmi opted for early retirement and marriage, but not before investing her best efforts into one last film production. Director
K. Asif had started his version of the
Laila–Majnun love legend,
Love and God even before completing his magnum opus
Mughal-e-Azam (1960). Nimmi believed that
Love & God would be a fitting
swan song to her career and her claim to eternal fame just as
Mughal-e-Azam had immortalised its leading lady,
Madhubala. K. Asif had problems casting the male lead before finally selecting
Guru Dutt as Nimmi's co-star. However, Guru Dutt's sudden and premature death put a halt to the film's shooting.
Sanjeev Kumar was cast as his replacement but the film was shelved altogether when the director K. Asif died. Nimmi had retired from films for over two decades by the time K. Asif's widow Akhtar Asif released
Love & God on 6 June 1986 in incomplete form. ==Personal life==