Mollywood

A new Bhojpuri film is evocatively titled: Panditji Bataien Biyah Kab Hoi Panditji, Tell Me When Will I Marry. While the film has actor Na...

A new Bhojpuri film is evocatively titled: Panditji Bataien Biyah Kab Hoi Panditji, Tell Me When Will I Marry.

While the film has actor Nagma consulting a Pandit for her wedding mahurat, in real life she is seeking legal eagles. This svelte heroine, once called bombshell of the south, hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently. Former hawala operator Jamruddin Kalia, alias Jumbo, currently in the custody of CBI probing the two gutka barons Rasiklal Dhariwal and J M Joshi-underworld nexus, linked Nagma with Anees Ibrahim, younger brother of don Dawood Ibrahim. Calling her Anees8217;s consort, Jumbo also alleged that Anees had once sent Rs 10 lakh to Nagma8217;s Carter Road, Bandra residence, through him. Promptly denying it, Nagma threatened to initiate criminal proceedings, but didn8217;t specify against whom.

A failed actor, at least in Hindi cinema, Nagma breezed into Bollywood with Baaghi 1991, starring opposite Salman Khan, directed by Deepak Shivdasani. Flaunting her movie links her father Chandan Sadanah was producer Brij Sadanah8217;s brother while actor Kamal Sadanah is her cousin, this sultry siren landed up at producer Nitin Manmohan8217;s Andheri office. He took her to Shivdasani. 8216;8216;Her eyes looked charming. The innocence on her face suited the character perfectly,8217;8217; remembers Shivdasani.

The film was a box office hit, and pundits predicted a long career for her. Immediately after Baaghi she was in Feroz Khan8217;s Yalgaar opposite Sanjay Dutt. Living up to his reputation, Khan cast Nagma in some steamy scenes with Dutt. The grapevine has it that the hard 8216;8216;task master8217;8217; Feroz Khan even slapped Nagma once on the sets when she refused to wear a revealing costume. The film didn8217;t do much for her career.

Waiting agonisingly for months, she did what many of Hindi film actors had done before. She turned south, getting a foothhold in Telugu and Tamil films. Working with the icons of southern screen like Prabhu Deva Kadhaalan and Rajnikant Baasha, Nagma earned the title of a southern comfort.

8216;8216;Perhaps she couldn8217;t compete with the likes of Kajol and Karisma Kapoor, the then reigning queens of Bollywood. She went south and made a splash,8217;8217; says Shivdasani.

WHILE the south sheltered Nagma, her 8216;8216;liaison8217;8217; with cricketer Sourav Ganguly kept the media interest in her alive. Ganguly was once even photographed performing puja with her at the famous Srikalahasti Temple in Andhra Pradesh. And during the 2001 series, Nagma became part of the Australian sledging routine every time Ganguly came out to bat. Much to Ganguly8217;s dancer wife Donna8217;s relief, Nagma rubbished all talks of an 8216;8216;affair8217;8217;.

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Two years ago, Nagma tried to make her journey back home with David Dhawan8217;s Chal Mere Bhai, again with Salman Khan. The film was a dud, leaving her no option but to accept B-grade potboilers.

Meanwhile, a political itch some say it was to get protection found her at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi8217;s residence just before the last Lok Sabha elections. Her cosying up with the Congress is also a reason why some BJP leaders want Nagma8217;s alleged underworld links to be probed.

The recent Anil Sharma multi-starrer Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo had the thirty-something Nagma playing mother to Bobby Deol. The film flopped. And when a once promising actor appears as a filler in mainstream cinema and lives off marginalised Bhojpuri films, her downslide is unmistakably visible.

8216;8216;It seems a case of mistaken identity. We worked with her for over two months. And she didn8217;t give any inkling of her links with underworld,8217;8217; defends her Bhojpuri film director Mohanji Prasad. 8216;8216;Ab dil mein kya hai yeh nahim maloom8217;8217; I don8217;t know what8217;s in her heart.

Now if only Nagma would bare her heart.