New Delhi: Veteran Bollywood actress Nimmi aka Nawab Banoo, who made her Bollywood debut in Raj Kapoor's 1949 release "Barsaat" also featuring Nagis, passed away at her residence in Mumbai on Wednesday (March 25) evening. She was 87, and had been ailing for a while now. Her last rights will take place on Thursday (March 26) afternoon. Condolences pour in from Bollywood celebrities for the yesteryear actress after the news came out.

From Rishi Kapoor to Shabana Azmi, known name from the entertainment industry took to their respective social media handles to mourn the death of the ‘Sazaa’ actress who achieved stardom in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt was among the first to convey condolences. "You may win your hearts desire, but in the end you are cheated of it by death. Goodbye Nimmiji," Bhatt wrote on Twitter.

 (Twitter)

Here how other celebrities reacted:

Rishi Kapoor: RIP. Thank you Nimmi aunty for all the blessings and love for Bobby on its premiere release. You were part of the RK family. Barsaat was your first film. Allha aapko Jannat naseeb kare. Ameen.



Shabana Azmi: Saddened to hear about the passing of Nimmiji. RIP



Tabassum: Abhi pata chala hai humari pyari Nimmi apa is duniya se chale gayin hain #rip #nimmi apa meri purani aur suhani yaaden .. Folded handsFolded hands



Through the fifties and the sixties, the actress worked in films with most top actors, notably the Bollywood Triumvirate of the era -- Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. One of her earliest releases was Fali Mistry's "Sazaa" starring Dev Anand in 1951. The same year, she worked with Dilip Kumar and Ashok Kumar in Nitin Bose's "Deedar".

She would go on to work with Dilip Kumar again in films like Mehboob Khan's ambitious "Aan" and Amiya Chakravarty's "Daag" the next year. By the time she reunited with Dev Anand in Chetan Anand's 1952 release "Aandhiyan", Nimmi was already a popular Bollywood name.

Her other notable films include "Uran Khatola (1955) with Dilip Kumar, the Ashok Kumar-Kishore Kumar starrer "Bhai-Bhai (1956), Sohrab Modi's "Kundan" (1955), the Rajendra Kumar-starrer "Mere Mehboob" (1963) and "Akashdeep" (1965). Nimmi's last release was K. Asif's much-delayed "Love And God", a retelling of the Laila-Majnu story.

In 1965, Nimmi married scriptwriter Ali Raza, who was associated with Mehboob Studios. Reportedly, popular comic actor of the era, Mukri, and Nimmi's hairdresser had played matchmakers. The couple was married till Raza's demise in 2007.

Over the recent past, Nimmi was suffering from breathing problems and had been in and out of the hospital.

May her soul rest in peace.

(With inputs from IANS)