Actor Nimrat Kaur has often spoken with pride and pain about the life and legacy of her father, Major Bhupender Singh, an Indian Army officer who laid down his life in the line of duty in Kashmir during the 1990s. While she rarely opened up about the tragic circumstances of his death, Nimrat first publicly shared the story in 2015, offering a deeply personal glimpse into how that moment forever changed her life.
Nimrat Kaur on her father's death
In a Bombay Times interview from 2015, Nimrat recalled the heartbreaking memory of their visit to Kashmir during her winter break in January 1994. “Kashmir was not a family station, so we continued living in Patiala when he went to Kashmir. We were on our winter vacation in January 1994 and visiting our father in Kashmir, when the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen kidnapped him from his place of work and after seven days, terminated him,” she said.
“They had made some ridiculous demands of some terrorists to be released that he obviously did not agree to. He was just 44 when he died. We got the news and flew back with his body to Delhi and I saw his body for the first time only in Delhi."
Nimrat described that time as the hardest phase of her life. “My life changed,” she said, adding, “It was not a financial threat. But that life that I had lived with those orderlies, those army cars went away overnight. It was difficult moving to a civilian life."
She elaborated on the emotional and social adjustments her family had to make. “In the army, you are living in a shell and that’s why my father never sent me to an army school. You are used to three sevadars around you and suddenly, there are no army get-togethers, so to just adjust to the new life without any fauji kids for friends was tough. I was undergoing puberty that time and that compounded my agony."
Despite the painful transition, Nimrat expressed deep gratitude toward the army. “But the army stands by you like a rock. They are your family and even today, they will come at the drop of a hat if you need something and they will do anything for you. I also think it’s to do with my father’s goodwill and his relationship with people."
She also shared that her father was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra, a gallantry award, and the announcement was made on a day she will never forget—her birthday, March 13.
Nimrat Kaur's career journey
Nimrat’s path to the spotlight began with modeling and early appearances in music videos in the 2000s. She made her acting debut in 2006 with The Peddlers, but her breakthrough came in 2013 with Ritesh Batra’s acclaimed film The Lunchbox, co-starring Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
She went on to appear in successful films like Airlift and Sky Force, and gained international recognition through her roles in the American TV series Homeland and Wayward Pines.