Nafisa Ali (born 18 January 1957) is an Indian actress and politician from

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...

and a

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

Early life

Nafisa Ali was born in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, the daughter of Ahmed Ali, a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Muslim man and Philomena Torresan, a Roman Catholic woman of

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

heritage. Nafisa's paternal grandfather, S. Wajid Ali, was a prominent Bengali writer. Her paternal aunt (father's sister) was

Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah ( bn, জেবুন্নেসা হামিদুল্লাহ, ur, ; 25 December 1918 – 10 September 2000) was a Pakistani writer and journalist. She was a pioneer of Pakistani literature and journalism in ...

, a Pakistani journalist and feminist. Nafisa is also related to the decorated Bangladeshi freedom fighter and soldier

Bir Pratik Bir Protik ( bn, বীর প্রতীক ''Bīr Pratīk'', "Symbol of Bravery or Idol of Courage") is the fourth highest gallantry award in Bangladesh. Recipients This award was declared on 15 December 1973. A total of 426 people have rece ...

Akhtar Ahmed. Nafisa's mother is now settled in Australia. Nafisa went to Sr. Cambridge from

La Martiniere Calcutta ''La Martiniere ''(informally known as LMC) is an elite, independent private day school located in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal. It comprises two single-gender boys and girls schools. It was established in 1836 in accordance with the will of ...

. 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. 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 Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

champion from 1972 to 1974. In 1976, she won the

Femina Miss India Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants. It is organised by '' Femina'', a women's magazine ...

title, represented India at the

Miss International Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant i ...

contest & was declared the 2nd runner-up. Ali was also a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

at the Calcutta Gymkhana in 1979.

Acting career

She has acted in several

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films, the notable ones being '' Junoon'' (1978) with

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...

, ''

Major Saab ''Major Saab'' is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language action film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Naveen Nischol, Ajay Devgn, Sonali Bendre, Nafisa Ali and Ashish Vidhyarthi. Plot The plot concerns playboy Virendra Pratap Singh aka Vir. A clause in the ...

'' with

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

(1998), '' Bewafaa'' (2005), '' Life In A... Metro'' (2007) and ''

Yamla Pagla Deewana ''Yamla Pagla Deewana'' (; ) is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Samir Karnik, featuring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, and Bobby Deol in the lead roles. The film marks the second pair-up between the Deol family, after ''A ...

'' (2010) with

Dharmendra Dharam Singh Deol (born 8 December 1935), also known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer and politician who is known for his work in Hindi films. Known as the first " He-Man" of Bollywood, Dharmendra has worked in over 301 ...

. She has also acted in a

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

film called '' Big B'' (2007) with

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

, and is associated with ''Action India,'' an organisation working to spread

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

awareness.

Political career

Nafisa Ali contested the 2004

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

elections unsuccessfully from

South Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

. On 5 April 2009, she contested the

election from

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

on the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

ticket after

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though u ...

's disqualification by the

Supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

on the basis of a prior conviction. She then rejoined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

party in November 2009 and said she is returning to Congress for life. However, she joined the

in October 2021 ahead of the

2022 Goa Legislative Assembly election : Legislative Assembly elections were held in Goa on 14 February 2022 to elect 40 members of the Eighth Goa Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 10 March 2022. Background The tenure of Goa Legislative ...

Personal life

She is married to Colonel Ravinder Singh Sodhi a

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

player who won the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

. In September 2005, she was appointed the chairperson of the

Children's Film Society of India Children's Film Society India (CFSI) was a nodal organization of Government of India that produced children's films and various TV programs in various Indian languages. Established in 1955, CFSI functioned under the Ministry of Information and ...

(CFSI). In November 2018, Ali was diagnosed with stage 3

peritoneal The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of mesothe ...

and

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

Filmography

* '' Junoon'' (1979) * ''

Aatank ''Aatank ''(English:''Terror'') is a 1996 Indian Bollywood action thriller written by Sachin Bhowmick and directed by duo Prem Lalwani & Desh Mukherjee. The film stars Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Vinod Mehra in the lead roles. The film began princi ...

'' (1996) * ''

'' (1998) * '' Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar'' (2001) * '' Bewafaa'' (2005) * '' Big B'' (2007) as Mary Teacher * '' Life in a... Metro'' (2008) * '' Guzaarish'' (2010) * ''

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

'' (2010) * ''

'' (2011) * ''

Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 ''Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3'' () is a 2018 Indian crime thriller film directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia. It is the sequel of 2013's ''Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns'' which was also directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and the third installment of '' Saheb ...

'' (2018) as Rajmata Yashodhara * ''

Bilal __NOTOC__ Bilal may refer to: People * Bilal (name) (a list of people with the name) * Bilal ibn Rabah, a companion of Muhammad * Bilal (American singer) * Bilal (Lebanese singer) Places *Bilal Colony, a neighbourhood of Korangi Town in Karachi, ...

'' (2022) as Mary Teacher * ''

Uunchai ''Uunchai'' () is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language adventure drama film directed by Sooraj Barjatya, written by Abhishek Dixit on the basis of an original story by Sunil Gandhi, and produced jointly by Rajshri Productions, Boundless Media and Mahav ...

'' (2022)

References

External links

*
An interview with Nafisa AliNafeesa Ali's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Nafisa La Martiniere Calcutta alumni Indian actor-politicians Miss International 1976 delegates Indian female swimmers Living people 1956 births Women in Maharashtra politics Indian film actresses Actresses from Mumbai Indian sportsperson-politicians Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian human rights activists 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Sportswomen from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian women Sportspeople from Mumbai Indian women activists Indian National Congress politicians from Maharashtra 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Equestrians from Maharashtra Swimmers from Mumbai Actresses in Malayalam cinema Beauty queen-politicians