Nirmal Pandey

Nirmal Pandey
Born Rajkumar Pandey
10 August 1962
Nainital, Uttarakhand, India[1]
Died 18 February 2010 (aged 47)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Occupation Actor
Spouse(s) Kausar Munir (1997–2000)
Archana Sharma (2005–2010)

Nirmal Pandey (10 August 1962 – 18 February 2010) was an Indian Bollywood actor who was known for his role of Vikram Mallah in Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen (1994), for portraying a transvestite in Daayraa (1996) for which he won a Best Actor Valenti award in France, Train To Pakistan (1998) and Godmother (1999).[1][2]

He was supposed to watch his latest film Lahore on 22 February 2010 at a special screening with humorist R. K. Laxman and music maestro M. M. Kreem. It was scheduled to be released on 19 March 2010, and would prove to be Pandey's last film.

Early life and education

Born in Nainital, Uttarakhand, Nirmal Pandey was educated at Almora and Nainital. He graduated from the National School of Drama, Delhi.[1][2]

Career

After leaving the National School of Drama he moved to London, with a theater group, Tara, performing plays like Heer Ranjha and Antigone, and acting in around 125 plays.[2]

After doing two small roles, he first got noticed in Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen (1996). He received positive reviews for films like Amol Palekar's Daayra (Square Circle) (1996), Train To Pakistan (1998), Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin and Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain.[3][4] He acted in movies like Laila, Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya, One 2 ka 4 and Shikari and in several television serials, including Hatim, and Princess Dollie Aur Uska Magic Bag (2005) (Star Plus).

In addition to being an actor, he was a singer who released an album called Jazba. In 2002, he directed Andhayug, a Hindi play written by noted playwright Dharamveer Bharati, which follows the 18 days following the Mahabharata war. It has a cast of 70 actors, all of whom belong to Sanvedna, a theatre group started by him in 1994.

He has an acting institute, "Fresh Talent Academy", in Ghaziabad [5] and conducts theatre workshops.[6]

Awards

He holds an extremely unusual record for winning a Best Actor award, at the 1997 France's Valenciennes Film Festival for his portrayal of a transvestite in Amol Palekar's Daayra (1996). He shared the Best Actress award with the female lead, Sonali Kulkarni, at the Valenciennes Film Festival (France, 1997).[7]

Death

Nirmal Pandey died at the age of 47 on 18 February 2010, from a heart attack in Mumbai.[8]

Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Actor Nirmal Pandey dead". Indian Express. 19 Feb 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Woh kaun? Nirmal Pandey Indian Express, 23 September 2002.
  3. ↑ Also showing – The Square Circle Amol Palekar The Independent, 12 June 1997.
  4. ↑ "Tale with a telling effect" The Hindu, 10 August 2000.
  5. ↑ Coming full circle Indian Express, 26 April 2002.
  6. ↑ "Nagpur theatre will rise like Phoenix" The Times of India, Arunav Sinha , TNN, 6 May 2007.
  7. ↑ Lack of funds, infrastructure rob theatre: Nirmal Pandey The Hindu, 27 May 2009.
  8. ↑ "'Bandit Queen' star Nirmal Pandey dead". The Times of India. 19 February 2010.
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