Nagma

Nagma Arvind Morarji[1] (born Nandita Arvind Morarji; 25 December 1974) is an Indian politician and former actress. She is known for her roles in Telugu and Tamil movies like Gharana Mogudu, Kadhalan, Baashha and many others. She began her acting career in Bollywood and acted in a few of the biggest Bollywood movies and in other languages. Nagma has acted in a broad range of India's languages: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, and Marathi.[2]

This article is about the Indian actress. For the Afghan singer, see Naghma.

Nagma
Nagma at RK Excellence Awards
Born	Nandita Arvind Morarjii (1974-12-25) 25 December 1974 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Other names	Nagma Sadanah
Alma mater	Mumbai University (B. Com)
Occupation	Actor, politician
Years active	1990–2008 (as actress) 2004-present(as a politician)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Relatives	Roshini (half-sister) Jyothika (half-sister)

Early life

Nagma was born as Nandita Arvind Morarji on 25 December 1974.[3] Her father Arvind Morarji, whose forefathers hailed from Jaisalmer, later migrating to Porbandar, Gujarat and finally Mumbai.[3] Her grandfather Gokuldas Morarji was a reputed businessman in the shipping, textile, agricultural and pharmaceutical industries.[3] Her mother Seema, originally named Shama Kazi, is a Muslim belonging to the Kazi freedom fighter family.[3] She married Morarji in 1969 at the CCI Club in Mumbai, but separated from him in 1974.[3] After divorcing Morarji in August 1974, Nagma's mother married Chander Sadanah, a film producer in March 1975 with whom she had three children: including two daughters, actresses Roshini and Jyothika.[4] Through father and his first wife Sapna, Nagma has two elder half-brothers, Dhanraj and Yuvraj.[4]

Nagma is a Bachelor of Commerce graduate from Mumbai University.[1]

Nagma remained close to her biological father until his death on 31 December 2005. She explained to a Mumbai reporter "I am proud of the fact that I belong to a respectable family. My mother was legally married to my father, the late Shri Arvind Morarji, at a public function at the CCI Club, Mumbai." It was Nagma's mother who encouraged her to become an actress and is said to have been her "constant companion on the film sets" for several years.[5]

Inspired by her entrepreneurial background, Nagma forayed into the clothing business by opening a boutique in Mumbai in Bandra West on Hill Road called Nagma's, which was inaugurated in September 2000 by Akshay Kumar.[6] Although the boutique was highly successful and an instant hit, she had to shut it down in 2003 as she had to be by the side of her ailing father while simultaneously honouring her Bhojpuri and other language film commitments apart from her spiritual quest, then teaching Art of Living.[7]

Acting career

Nagma's debut film Baghi: A Rebel for Love, opposite Salman Khan was Hindi cinema's seventh highest-grossing film in 1990.[8] With Karisma Kapoor, she was also one of the female leads in 1994's Suhaag with Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar. Following these films, she moved south to star in Telugu and Tamil movies at the behest of her friend Divya Bharti. Explaining her shift, she cited what she was more conscious of the quality of work, in terms of meaty roles and her flair to travel throughout India understanding different cultures and her drive and passion to get acclamation from all over India. She stated "Language was never a barrier. I love adventure, culture and have great respect for the Indian tradition".

Her Telugu films include 1992's Gharana Mogudu with Chiranjeevi, Allari Alludu with Nagarjuna Akkineni and Major Chandrakanth with N. T. Rama Rao and Mohan Babu. Her Tamil films include Baasha with Rajnikanth , 1994's Kadhalan with Prabhu Deva and Villadhi villain with Sathyaraj where she portrayed very glamourous

After moving back to Mumbai, she told an interviewer in 2001, "The pressure of being the number one actress in Tamil cinema was getting to me. I was unhappy with the kind of films I was doing. I couldn't do the kind of work I wanted to because I had to go by the dictates of what the audience expected of a much-in-demand actress. I was stagnating so I decided to take a break."[9] Again based in Hindi cinema, she focused on supporting roles in films like 2000's Chal Mere Bhai, which reunited her with former co-stars Karisma Kapoor, Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. Within a year, Nagma enrolled in the spiritually oriented Art of Living course, eventually teaching it herself in Mumbai and elsewhere.[10] While based in Mumbai, she continued to work in some Telugu and Tamil movies, such as Allari Ramudu and Citizen, as well as taking leading roles in some Malayalam films including Chathurangam.

Nagma has acted in Bhojpuri movies, including films with the Big Boss participant Ravi Kishan. She won a Best Actress award at the 2005 Bhojpuri Film Awards for her performance in Dulha Milal Dildar.[11] In 2006's Ganga, she starred in the title role opposite Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini. When asked why she shifted to Bhojpuri films, she said "I wanted to do films in different languages. I have already done movies in 10 languages. My first Bhojpuri film Panditji Bataayina Biyaah Kab Hoii was a huge hit. After that, the offers poured in and they were too good to be ignored."[12] When interviewed by The Hindu in Delhi in April 2007, she indicated that another important reason for her decision to focus on Bhojpuri films was to help with her political campaigning.[13]

In 2006, she made her Punjabi film debut, starring alongside Raj Babbar in Ek Jind Ek Jaan.

Discussing her career in a Mid-Day interview in September 2006, Nagma said "I have learned nine languages, so I want to do films in all languages. On the Hindi film front, I am in the process of signing a very big period thriller. I am getting to do a variety of roles with content, so I am satisfied."[14] While noting her commitment to complete several Bhojpuri films she was involved with, in March 2007, she expressed her intention to next focus on returning to Hindi films after wrapping up her projects.[15] In her 2007 Hindustan Times interview, in which she discusses her future plans for cinema and politics, Nagma responded to a question about her reputation for controversy by saying "You need guts to deal with controversies. Of course, whether it’s for negative or positive reasons, I’ve always been in the news."[16]

Politics

It was reported that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), wanted to field Nagma as a candidate from Hyderabad for the 2004 General Lok Sabha Elections.[17][18] But she decided to join Congress in 2004 and campaigned in Andhra Pradesh. She cited Congress Party's "commitment towards secularism and welfare of the poor and weaker sections" as her reason for joining.[17] Later, after joining the Congress, Nagma has reportedly said that she first supported the Congress Party because of her admiration for Rajiv Gandhi.[19]

She contested 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Meerut as Congress candidate, but came a distant fourth with 13,222 votes,[20] She lost her deposit.[21]

In a 2006 interview, she made a direct link between her family history and her political activism: "My mom is Muslim and my dad is Hindu. We were brought up to respect all religions. Communal riots pained me. I wanted to do something. So I joined politics.". She had to turn down an offer to run for India's Lok Sabha in 2003 due to her many film commitments. "If I wanted to become a member of Parliament I would need to give 100 per cent to my constituency — which I could not at that point of time."[22] In an interview with the Hindustan Times in 2007, she said "politics will continue".[16]

Controversies

Meerut incident

While campaigning for Congress in the Jali Kothi area, a small region in Meerut, Nagma slapped a fellow Congress supporter for getting too close and groping her.[23]

Alleged underworld links

Nagma was alleged having links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. CBI had arrested Anees Ibrahim, younger brother of Dawood for involvement in the Gutkha Case. Anees Ibrahim in his confessional statement had informed Mumbai police about Nagma while probing him for smuggling of gutkha machines to Pakistan.[24]

As per the statement from Dawood's aid, ₹10 lakhs was handed to Nagma on behalf of Anees at her flat in Mumbai's Bandra (West) through hawala transactions. Rasiklal Dhariwal of Manickchand Gutkha and J. M. Joshi of Goa Gutkha had been accused of involving with the underworld for settling a business dispute. Nagma had acted in a Telugu film Ninu Choodaka Nenundalenu, that is alleged to be financed by J. M. Joshi.[25][26]

Personal life

Nagma is a convert to Christianity. She has said she always had seen Jesus as a guiding force in her life but only later made the decision to convert, with her biological father's death and her own bout with illness cited as moments that opened her up to the possibility.[27] In 2013 she and fellow actor Johnny Lever were in the news for promoting Christianity at a Mumbai train station and buses and received threats from Hindu nationalist groups.[28]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1990	Baaghi: A Rebel for Love	Kaajal, a.k.a. "Paro"	Hindi	Debut film
1991	Peddinti Alludu	Geeta	Telugu
	Killer	Priya	Telugu
1992	Gharana Mogudu	Uma Devi	Telugu
	Bewaffa Se Waffa	Nagma	Hindi
	Dilwale Kabhi Na Hare	Anjali Oberoi	Hindi
	Police Aur Mujrim	Meena Khanna	Hindi
	Yalgaar	Anu Singhal	Hindi
	Aswamedham	Sowjanya	Telugu
1993	King Uncle	Kavita	Hindi
	Major Chandrakanth	Seetha	Telugu
	Varasudu	Keerthi	Telugu
	Hasti	Neena Narang	Hindi
	Kondapalli Raja	Subbalakshmi	Telugu
	Dhartiputra	Lisa	Hindi
	Allari Alludu	Sravani	Telugu
	Rendilla Poojari		Telugu
	Green Snake	Bharata Natyam dancer	Cantonese & Mandarin Chinese
1994	Mugguru Monagallu	Rani	Telugu
	Super Police	Roja	Telugu
	Gang Master	Sandhya	Telugu
	Aavesham		Telugu
	Kadhalan	Sruthi	Tamil
	Suhaag	Madhu	Hindi
1995	Baashha	Priya	Tamil
	Mounam	Manjari	Telugu
	Ragasiya Police	Raji	Tamil
	Villadhi Villain	Janaki	Tamil
	Rikshavodu	Rani	Telugu
	Adavi Dora	Priya	Telugu
	Bharatha Simham		Telugu
1996	Love Birds	Mridula	Tamil
	Saradha Bullodu	Nirmala Devi	Telugu
	Mettukudi	Indhu	Tamil
1997	Kaun Rokega Mujhe	Nisha	Hindi
	Periya Thambi	Selvi	Tamil
	Aravindhan	Anu	Tamil
	Surya Putrulu		Telugu
	Janakiraman	Indhu	Tamil
	Pistha	Vanilla	Tamil
1998	Sreekrishnapurathe Nakshathrathilakkam	Yamuna Rani	Malayalam
	Kurubana Rani	Rani	Kannada
	Vaettiya Madichu Kattu	Mrs.Pooja Jaiprakash	Tamil
1999	Lal Baadshah		Hindi	Special appearance
	Ravimama		Kannada
2000	Kunwara	Sharmila Singh	Hindi
	Chal Mere Bhai	Sonia	Hindi
	Papa The Great	Mrs. Pooja Jai Prakash	Hindi
2001	Dheena		Tamil	Special appearance in the song "paththikkuchchi"
	Sai Teri Maya		Hindi
	Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love		Hindi	Special appearance
	Citizen	CBI Sarojini Harichandran	Tamil
	Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar	Anupama Verma	Hindi
2002	Chathurangam	Nayana Pillai	Malayalam
	Allari Ramudu	Chamundeswari	Telugu
	Ninu Choodaka Nenundalenu		Telugu	Special appearance
2003	Hrudayavantha		Kannada
2004	Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo	Aarti V. Singh	Hindi
2005	Dulha Milal Dildar		Bhojpuri	Winner, Bhojpuri Film Award for Best Actress[29]
	Panditji Batai Na Byah Kab Hoi		Bhojpuri
	Parinam		Bengali
2006	Ek Jind Ek Jaan	Nimmi	Punjabi
	Ganga	Ganga	Bhojpuri
	Ab Ta Banja Sajnwa Hamaar		Bhojpuri
	Mai Baap		Bhojpuri
	Dil Diwana Tohar Ho Gayil		Bhojpuri
	Raja Thakur		Bhojpuri
2007	Back To Honeymoon		Hindi
	Thamb Lakshmi Thamb	Lakshmi	Marathi
	Tu Hamaar Hou		Bhojpuri
	Janam Janam Ke Saath		Bhojpuri
2008	Hanuman Bhakt Hawaldaar		Bhojpuri
	Thela No 501		Bhojpuri

References

1. "Morarji Nagma Arvind(Indian National Congress(INC)):Constituency- MEERUT(UTTAR PRADESH) - Affidavit Information of Candidate:". myneta.info. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
2. "டோடோவின் ரஃப் நோட்டு". Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2007.
3. "Sensuous pictures of Nagma, ex-gf of Sourav Ganguly - OrissaPOST". Odisha News, Odisha Latest news, Odisha Daily - OrissaPOST. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
4. "Nagma's family secret". www.telegraphindia.com. 21 April 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
5. "For Indophiles and Those Who Crave Bollywood". I Crave Bollywood. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
6. "Akshay inaugurates Nagma's boutique". Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
7. "Ganguly?s career was at stake, so we parted: Nagma". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
8. Archived 7 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
9. Filmfare interview, May 2001 "Clean Bowled – Match-fixing... and much more with Nagma" at Archived 13 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
10. "Nagma practices the art of living!" ApunKaChoice.com (19 April 2003) at Cinema/20030419-0.html; and "Venky and Nagma's Art of Living!" at Archived 27 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine
11. ""Results", Bhojpuri Film Awards website". bhojpurifilmaward.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2007.
12. ZeeNews.com "Racism, controversies forced Nagma to quit Hindi Cinema" (15 March 2007) Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine; and IndiaInfo.com (IANS), "Racism, controversies forced Nagma to quit Hindi Cinema" (16 March 2007) Archived 28 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
13. ""Figure in focus..." Anuj Kumar, in The Hindu (5 April 2007)". Hindu.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
14. ""Nagma's sister getting married" in Mid-Day (1 Sept. 2006), online at".
15. "Saavn – Hindi Songs Free Download, Old, Latest, New, mp3, Bollywood Music, Online". smashits.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008.
16. "You need guts to deal with controversies: Nagma," Hindustan Times (16 March 2007) Archived 20 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
17. ""Film actress Nagma joins Congress" Indo-Asian News Service (16 April 2004)". Yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 6 May 2006.
18. ""Nagma in poll fray?" Times News Network (21 March 2004)". timesofindia.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
19. "See, e.g., "Government office for Nagma?" (10 Nov. 2006) at". Archived from the original on 28 May 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
20. Lal, Rashi (16 May 2014). "Nagma: Election Results 2014: Nagma's star attraction fails to click in Meerut - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
21. Shashidhar, Karthik (19 May 2014). "Lok Sabha elections: Why many candidates lost their deposits". Livemint. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
22. A Ganesh Nadar interview with Nagma, "Nagma, the survivor — The actress who has truly done it all." (10 March 2006), at rediff.com Archived 3 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
23. "Congress candidate Nagma slaps man who allegedly groped her at public meeting". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
24. "Nagma has underworld links, alleges Dawood associate". Outlook. 13 February 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
25. Joshi, Parikshit; Krishnan, Murali (28 February 2005). "Guthka probe: Actor Nagma refutes charges of links with underworld don Anees Ibrahim". India Today. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
26. "Is Nagma's D-link a case of mistaken identity? | Mumbai News - Times of India". The Times of India. 14 February 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
27. Rodriguez, Elio. "Bollywood actress Nagma discovered the uniqueness of Jesus | God Reports". God Reports. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
28. "Nagma In Trouble Over Religious Conversion". Hans India. 12 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020.
29. See, e.g., "First-ever Bhojpuri awards " in Mid-Day (1 Feb.2006), online at

External links

• Nagma on IMDb