Nafisa
Nafisa Ali at the premiere of the film Lahore
Born
Nafisa Ali

Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Other namesNafisa Ali Sodhi
Occupation(s)Actress, model, politician
Years active1978–present
Political partyAll India Trinamool Congress (2021—present)[1]
Other political
affiliations		Indian National Congress
Samajwadi Party
SpouseR.S. Sodhi
Websitewww.nafisaali.com

Nafisa Ali is an Indian actress and politician from All India Trinamool Congress and a social activist.

Early life

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 attended La Martiniere Calcutta, where she was a House Captain.[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

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

She has acted in several Bollywood films, the notable ones being Junoon (1979) with Shashi Kapoor, Major Saab (1998) with Amitabh Bachchan, 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

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] However, she joined the All India Trinamool Congress in October 2021 ahead of the 2022 Goa Legislative Assembly election.[6]

Personal life

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.[7]

Filmography

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Actor Nafisa Ali joins TMC in Goa ahead of 2022 polls". Indrajit Kundu. 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.
  3. 1 2 "Rival has no clue about Nafisa's secret weapon". Archived from the original on 6 April 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Children's Film Society, India". Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  5. ↑ "Nafisa Ali Rejoins Congress | news.outlookindia.com". Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  6. ↑ "Actor Nafisa Ali joins TMC in Goa ahead of 2022 polls".
  7. ↑ "Actress Nafisa Ali diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer; Here is what you should know". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
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