Nalini Jaywant

Nalini Jaywant was an Indian movie actress who was seen in films during the 1940s and 1950s. Nalini is first cousin to actress Shobhna Samarth, the mother of Bollywood actresses Nutan and Tanuja. Nalini got married to director Virendra Desai in the 1940s. Later, the actress married her second husband, actor Prabhu Dayal, with whom she acted in several films.


In her teens, Nalini Jaywant got some fame through her performance in Mehboob Khan's Bahen that was released in 1941, a movie about a brother's obsessive love for his sister. Nalini, however, performed in a few more flicks before the notable 1948 release ‘Anokha Pyaar’. The movie involved a love triangle among characters played by Dilip Kumar, Nargis, and Nalini. Nalini played the character of the girl who sacrifices her love for the hero played by Dilip Kumar. Nalini's performance in that movie proved to be the movie's saving grace.

1950 came as a breakthrough year for Nalini when she became a top actress with her performances opposite Ashok Kumar in Samadhi and Sangram. “Samadhi” was a patriotic drama on Subash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army.
Nalini and Ashok Kumar performed together in many movies like Kafila (1952), Naubahar (1952), Saloni (1952), Mr. X (1957), and Sheroo (1957). Nalini remained an important leading heroine through the mid-1950s. Though, many famous filmmakers extended Nalini Jaywant’s association with realistic films, while movie makers like Mahesh Kaul with Naujavan (1951) and AR Kardar with Jaadu developed her musical persona.

The 1958 Bollywood film Kaala Pani which was directed by Raj Khosla, was Nalini's last successful flick and that year, she won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her performance in that movie as Kishori, who formed a main witness in framing the hero's father for a murder. Her come-hither dance in S. D. Burman's composition Nazar Laagi Raaja Tore Bangle pe and her tearful looks at evergreen star Dev Anand from across the room in S. D. Burman's Hum Bekhudi Mein were most remarkable

Bombay Race Course (1965) was Nalini's last main movie. Besides, above mentioned movies, Nalini received much critical acclaim for her performances in Rahi (1952), Shikast (1953), Railway Platform (1955), and Awaaz (1956), etc. Nalini Jaywant died on the afternoon of 20th December 2010 in lonely situation at her bungalow of 60 years at Union Park, Chembur, Mumbai.

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