Nafisa Ali

Nafisa
Nafisa
	Nafisa Ali at the premiere of the film Lahore
Born	18 January 1957 (age 67); Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Other names	Nafisa Ali Sodhi
Occupation	Actress, model, politician
Years active	1979–present
Political party	All India Trinamool Congress (2021—present)
Spouse(s)	R.S. Sodhi
Website	www.nafisaali.com

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Nafisa Ali (born 18 January 1957) is an Indian actress and politician from All India Trinamool Congress and a social activist.

Early life[edit]

Nafisa Ali was born in Kolkata, the daughter of Ahmed Ali, a Bengali Muslim man and Philomena Torresan, a Roman Catholic woman of Anglo-Indian heritage. Nafisa's paternal grandfather, S. Wajid Ali, was a prominent Bengali writer. Her paternal aunt (father's sister) was Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, a Pakistani journalist and feminist. Nafisa is also related to the decorated Bangladeshi freedom fighter and soldier Bir Pratik Akhtar Ahmed.^[2] Nafisa's mother is now settled in Australia.^[3]

Nafisa went to Sr. Cambridge from La Martiniere Calcutta.^[4] She has also studied Vedanta taught by Swami Chinmayananda, who started the center Chinmaya Mission of World Understanding.

Her husband is the polo player and Arjuna awardee, retired Col R.S. Sodhi. After marriage, she chose to stop working and focus on her three children: daughters Armana, Pia and son Ajit.^[3] After a break of 18 years she returned to the film industry.

Career[edit]

Nafisa Ali has accomplishments in several fields. She was the national swimming champion from 1972 to 1974. In 1976, she won the Femina 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[edit]

She has acted in several Bollywood films, the notable ones being Junoon (1978) with Shashi Kapoor, Major Saab with Amitabh Bachchan (1998), Bewafaa (2005), Life In A... Metro (2007) and Yamla Pagla Deewana (2010) with Dharmendra.

She has also acted in a Malayalam film called Big B (2007) with Mammootty, and is associated with Action India, an organisation working to spread AIDS awareness.

Political career[edit]

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.^[5]

Personal life[edit]

She is married to Colonel Ravinder Singh Sodhi a polo player who won the Arjuna Award.^[4]

In September 2005, she was appointed the chairperson of the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI).

In November 2018, Ali was diagnosed with stage 3 peritoneal and ovarian cancer.^[6]

Filmography[edit]

Junoon (1979)
Aatank (1996)
Major Saab (1998)
Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar (2001)
Bewafaa (2005)
Big B (2007) as Mary Teacher
Life in a... Metro (2008)
Guzaarish (2010)
Lahore (2010)
Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011)
Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 (2018) as Rajmata Yashodhara
Bilal (2022) as Mary Teacher

References[edit]

↑ "Actor Nafisa Ali joins TMC in Goa ahead of 2022 polls". Indrajit Kundu. India Today. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
↑ "Major Akhter: Salute and an embrace from our heart". The Opinion Pages. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 "Rival has no clue about Nafisa's secret weapon". Archived from the original on 6 April 2010.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ "Actress Nafisa Ali diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer; Here is what you should know". Times of India. Retrieved 19 November 2018.

External links[edit]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Template:Country data Maharashtra – Indira Maria Bredemeyer	Femina Miss International India 1976	Succeeded by Template:Country data Punjab – Sabita Dhanrajgir
Preceded by India – Indira Bredemeyer	Miss International 2nd Runner-up 1976	Succeeded by Indonesia – Indri Hapsari Soeharto

Template:Miss International 1976 delegates

[1] "Actor Nafisa Ali joins TMC in Goa ahead of 2022 polls". Indrajit Kundu. India Today. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.

[2] "Major Akhter: Salute and an embrace from our heart". The Opinion Pages. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2017.

[hindustantimes.com-3] 3.0 ^3.1 "Rival has no clue about Nafisa's secret weapon". Archived from the original on 6 April 2010.

[cfsindia.org-4] 4.0 ^4.1 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[5] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[6] "Actress Nafisa Ali diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer; Here is what you should know". Times of India. Retrieved 19 November 2018.

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