Celebrity gaze

December 26, 2024

Raj Kapoor wanted to cast Nafisa Ali for Henna

Though Nafisa agreed to do Henna, her father disapproved of her joining films

By Rajesh Ahuja

Henna, the film on India Pakistan relations envisioned by Raj Kapoor, may today be remembered as Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiyar's debut in Bollywood but it is a little known fact that the legendary actor Director had envisioned former Miss India Nafisa Ali as the female lead of the film.

In his autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored, the late Rishi Kapoor revealed that his father Raj Kapoor always wanted to cast Nafisa Ali as the female lead of Henna. But it was not to be!

Writing in his autobiography, Rishi Kapoor said that though Raj Kapoor wanted to cast Nafisa Ali in Henna, and even she had agreed to do the film, her father was against her joining the film business.

Raj Kapoor wanted to cast Nafisa Ali in Henna

Talking about Nafisa Ali, Rishi Kapoor said, ''we nearly worked together not once but twice. However, things did not work out on either occasion. Long before I actually met her, I had read about Nafisa and seen pictures of her in Junior Statesman, a very popular magazine in its time, especially with the young hip, college going crowd.

She was a swimming champion and was nicknamed the 'Water Baby ' She was also stunningly beautiful'.'

Rishi Kapoor said that he met Nafisa Ali at the Kolkata premiere of his debut film Bobby.

'In the 1970s and 80s, films were not released simultaneously across India. Bobby was first released in Mumbai, and sometimes later , we went to Kolkata for its premiere. Serendipitously, I met Nafisa Ali at the premiere.

Both my father and I were instantly drawn to her and papa(Raj Kapoor) even mentally cast her in his next film after Bobby. He had Henna on his mind at the time. He immediately despatched me to talk to her and test the waters to see if she was interested in doing a film with me. So I did. To my delight, Nafisa's response was 'of course, I'd love to,'Rishi Kapoor said.

Unfortunately, however, Nafisa Ali could not do the film as her father was against her working in the film industry.

'But when she spoke to her father about it, he expressed his reservations about her joining the film business, 'Rishi Kapoor said.

Eventually, Nafisa Ali made her debut in Hindi films with the Hindi film Junoon(1978) , where she featured with Shashi Kapoor.

Later , Rishi Kapoor again missed an opportunity to work with Nafisa Ali after her father's disapproval for her working in Nasir Hussain's Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai, where Padmini Kolhapure was cast as the female lead.

(Nafisa Ali, not Padmini Kolhapure, was the first choice for Nasir Hussain's Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai

https://raju0568.blogspot.com/2024/10/ali-not-padmini-kolhapure-was-first.html)

A national swimming champion from 1972 to 1974, Nafisa Ali, In 1976, won the Femina Miss India title.

She represented India at the Miss International contest and was declared the 2nd runner-up.

Making her debut in the film Junoon (1979) with Shashi Kapoor, Nafisa Ali has worked in Major Saab (1998) with Amitabh Bachchan, Bewafaa (2005), Life In A... Metro (2007) and Yamla Pagla Deewana (2010) with Dharmendra.

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