Actor Nazima, sister and friend of Hindi cinema’s golden era, passes away at 77

Mumbai: Actor Nazima, who played the quintessential sister and best friend to several heroes and heroines in the 1960s and '70s, passed away at age 77 Monday. She lived in Dadar with her two sons.Born Mehrunnisa in Nashik on March 25, 1948, Nazima hailed from a family of female actors including aunt Husn Bano who was married to filmmaker Aspi Irani. Her cousin Zarreen Babu confirmed her death on social media Monday.She started her career as child actor Baby Chand with Do Bigha Zamin as the elder of two sisters who were ferried to school by Balraj Sahni, the rickshawallah. She appeared to be a Bimal Roy discovery, having featured in Devdas as the classmate of little Paro, followed by Biraj Bahu as the sister of Abhi Bhattacharya. Nazima was also noticed in the children's caper Ab Dilli Door Nahin produced by Raj Kapoor.She later went on to star opposite Sanjeev Kumar in Nishan (Hai tabassum tera) and Raja Aur Runk (O firki walli and Sang basanti). She acted with Rajesh Khanna in Aurat and Doli.Her mainstream movies include Abhinetri, Manchali, Prem Nagar, Anurag, Beimaan, Doli—and Arzoo where her long, bloodcurdling scream at discovering that her brother Rajendra Kumar has lost a leg, is well remembered.The actor played Asha Parekh's sister in Aaye Din Bahaar Ke (Ai Kaash kisi deewane ko), where she deliberately fell off a staircase two times as she tried to gain Dharmendra's attention in vain. Her other best friend roles include Hema Malini's impish friend in Abhinetri and Leena Chandavarkar's companion in Manchali.