Veteran Bollywood actress, Nanda, known for hits such as Gumnaam and Jab Jab Phool Khile, died on Tuesday morning following a massive heart attack at her residence in Mumbai, her relative said.
She was 72 and is survived by two brothers.
“She breathed her last around 8.30am. It happened so suddenly we could not even call a doctor,” her sister-in-law Jaishree T. said at her house in Seven Bungalows in the suburb of Andheri in Mumbai.
Nanda was the daughter of renowned Marathi actor and director Vinayak D. Karnataki and niece of the legendary filmmaker V. Shantaram.
Her funeral will be conducted on Tuesday afternoon at the Jogeshwari electric crematorium, details of which are being finalised, Jaishree said.
Nanda, who was active in films for around four decades and has over 65 titles to her credit, joined the industry as a child artist to support her family after her father’s death.
After her big break in Shantaram’s Toofan Aur Diya, she graduated to supporting roles with hits such as Bhabhi and Dev Anand-Waheeda Rehman starrer Kala Bazar, followed by lead roles in Gumnaam with Manoj Kumar, with whom she teamed up again in Mera Kasaoor Kya Hai. In 1972, Kumar had roped her in for his directorial venture Shor in a small, but important role.
During her prime, she worked with Shashi Kapoor and the duo featured in the hit movie, Jab Jab Phool Khile, still remembered for its music and hit songs, including the number Ye sama, picturised on the actress.
Nanda also played the female lead opposite Dev Anand in films such as Hum Dono and Teen Deviyan.
In the late 1960s, she was seen with Rajesh Khanna, a newcomer at that time, in Ittefaq (1969) and her perofrmance in the suspense thriller won her a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress.
The duo also worked together in another thriller The Train (1970) and the comedy, Joroo Ka Ghulam (1972), which were successful at the box office.
Subsequently, she shifted to character roles and is still remembered for playing Padmini Kolhapure’s mother in Raj Kapoor-directed Prem Rog. In the mid 1990s, she bid adieu to movies.
