Nafisa Ali is an Indian actress, politician, activist and former beauty pageant titleholder. She is a member of the All India Trinamool Congress.
Early life
Nafisa Ali was born in
Kolkata, the daughter of Ahmed Ali, a
Bengali people man and Philomena Torresan, a woman of
Anglo-Indian heritage. Nafisa's paternal grandfather, S. Wajid Ali, was a Bengali writer. Her paternal aunt (father's sister) was Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, a Pakistani journalist. Nafisa is also related to the
muktijoddha and soldier
Bir Pratik Akhtar Ahmed.
Nafisa's mother later moved to Australia.
Nafisa attended La Martiniere Calcutta, where she was a House Captain.
Career
Sports and fashion
Nafisa Ali has accomplishments in several fields. She was the national swimming champion from 1972 to 1974. In 1976, she won the Eve's Weekly Miss India title, represented India at the Miss International contest & was declared the 2nd runner-up. Ali was also a
jockey at the Calcutta Gymkhana in 1979.
Acting career
She has acted in several
Bollywood films, the notable ones being
Junoon (1979) with
Shashi Kapoor,
Major Saab (1998) with
Amitabh Bachchan,
Bewafaa (2005),
Life In A... Metro (2007),
Guzaarish (2010) and
Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011) with
Dharmendra.
She also acted in a Malayalam film called Big B (2007) with Mammootty.
Political career
Nafisa Ali contested the 2004
Lok Sabha elections unsuccessfully from
South Kolkata. On 5 April 2009, she contested the
Lok Sabha election from
Lucknow on the
Samajwadi Party ticket after
Sanjay Dutt's disqualification by the Supreme Court on the basis of a prior conviction. She then rejoined the Indian National Congress party in November 2009 and said she is returning to Congress for life.
However, she joined the All India Trinamool Congress in October 2021 ahead of the 2022 Goa Legislative Assembly election.
Personal life
She is married to Colonel Ravinder Singh Sodhi, a
polo player who won the
Arjuna Award.
After marriage, she chose to stop working and focus on their children: daughters Armana and Pia and son Ajit.
In September 2005, she was appointed the chairperson of the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI). She also associated with Action India, an organisation working to spread AIDS awareness. In November 2018, Ali was diagnosed with stage 3 peritoneal and ovarian cancer.
Filmography
-
Junoon (1979)
-
Kshatriya (1993)
-
Aatank (1996)
-
Major Saab (1998)
-
Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar (2001)
-
Bewafaa (2005) as Mrs. Verma
-
Godfather: The Legend Continues (2007)
-
Big B (2007) as Mary teacher
-
Life in a... Metro (2008)
-
Guzaarish (2010)
-
Pakistan (2010)
-
Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011)
-
Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 (2018) as Rajmata Yashodhara
-
Max, Min and Meowzaki (2022) as Jennifer Sequera
-
Uunchai (2022)
See also
-
List of Indian women athletes
External links
