Miss India, Miss International, and other beauty pageants have time and again proved their talent in Bollywood. Several Bollywood actresses, including Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Sushmita Sen, Manushi Chhillar, and other pageant titleholders have managed to rule hearts with their roles in Bollywood films. Likewise, a Bollywood actress won the Femina Miss India title and represented India at the Miss International contest. She also declared the 2nd runner-up. Later, she made her way into Bollywood. Can you guess who it is?
Actress Nafisa Ali belonged to a Muslim family but fell in love with a Sikh man. The actress rebelled to marry him, but after her wedding, Nafisa's mother-in-law initially refused to accept the relationship. Nafisa had to spend a few days at her husband's friend's house. She even worked with Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, and others.
Nafisa managed to make everyone fall in love with her beauty in the early 70s. She was seen in Bollywood films including Junoon with Shashi Kapoor, Major Saab with Amitabh Bachchan, Bewafaa, Life In A Metro and Yamla Pagla Deewana with Dharmendra. She was even seen in the Malayalam film Big B with Mammootty.
The actress decided to quit Bollywood due to the pressure from her parents? During an interview with a portal, Nafisa said, 'I was just remembering myself at that stage of my life. When I was young and the film Junoon was made, it was such a huge success and I had so many offers. I remember I had no family support; I was alone in Bombay trying to find work. My father told me girls in our family don't work in the cinema. I gave in to that pressure.'
She returned to the big screens with Kshatriya, released in 1993 after 14-year gap. In 2018, Nafisa was diagnosed with stage 3 peritoneal and ovarian cancer and quit Bollywood in the same year.
