Nagma
Nagma in September 2015
Born	Nandita Arvind Morarjii (1974-12-25)25 December 1974 (age 50) Bombay (now Mumbai),Maharashtra, India
Other names	Nagma Sadanah
Alma mater	Mumbai University (B. Com)
Occupations	Actor politician
Years active	1990–2008 (actress) 2004–present (politician)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Relatives	Roshini (half-sister) Jyothika (half-sister) Suriya (brother-in-law)

Nagma Arvind Morarji^[1] (bornNandita Arvind Morarji; 25 December 1974), known mononyomusly asNagma. is an Indian politician and former actress. She gained prominence as a leading actress in the 1990s and appeared in films across various Indian languages, primarily inTelugu,Hindi,Tamil andBhojpuri.

Nagma made her film debut inBaaghi (1990) oppositeSalman Khan, which was the seventh highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.^[2] She went on to star in several notable films, includingGharana Mogudu (1992),King Uncle (1993),Varasudu (1993),Suhaag (1994),Kadhalan (1994),Baashha (1995), andLal Baadshah (1999).

Nagma was born as Nandita Arvind Morarji^[3] on 25 December 1974.^[1][4] Her father Arvind Morarji, whose forefathers hailed fromJaisalmer, later migrating toPorbandar,Gujarat and finallyMumbai.^[3] Her grandfather Gokuldas Morarji was a reputed businessman in the shipping, textile, agricultural and pharmaceutical industries.^[3] Her mother Seema, originally named Shama Kazi, is aMuslim belonging to the Kazi freedom fighter family.^[3] She married Morarji in 1969 at the CCI Club in Mumbai, but separated from him in 1974.^[3] After divorcing Morarji in August 1974, Nagma's mother married Chander Sadanah, a film producer in March 1975 with whom she had three children: including two daughters, actressesJyothika andRoshini (born Radhika).^[5]

Nagma did her schooling from Mount Mary Convent High School, Mumbai.^[6] She is aBachelor of Commerce graduate fromNational College,Mumbai University.^[1]

Nagma remained close to her biological father until his death on 31 December 2005. She explained to a Mumbai reporter "I am proud of the fact that I belong to a respectable family. My mother was legally married to my father, the late Shri Arvind Morarji, at a public function at the CCI Club, Mumbai." It was Nagma's mother who encouraged her to become an actress and is said to have been her "constant companion on the film sets" for several years.^[7]

Nagma is a practising Christian. She was baptised to be a Christian in 2007.^{[8][better source needed]}

Nagma's debut filmBaghi: A Rebel for Love, oppositeSalman Khan was Hindi cinema's seventh highest-grossing film in 1990.^[2] WithKarisma Kapoor, she was also one of the female leads in 1994'sSuhaag withAjay Devgan andAkshay Kumar. Following these films, she acted inTelugu andTamil films at the behest of her friendDivya Bharti. Explaining her shift, she cited what she was more conscious of the quality of work, in terms of meaty roles and her flair to travel throughout India understanding different cultures and her drive and passion to get acclamation from all over India. She stated "Language was never a barrier. I love adventure, culture and have great respect for the Indian tradition".

Her Telugu films includeGharana Mogudu withChiranjeevi,Allari Alludu withNagarjuna Akkineni andMajor Chandrakanth withN. T. Rama Rao andMohan Babu. Her Tamil films includeKadhalan withPrabhu Deva,Baashha withRajinikanth andVilladhi Villain withSathyaraj in which she played her most glamour part and begin to tempt the Tamil audience and her performance gained her a unanimous praises for her glamour role time.^[9]

After moving back to Mumbai, she focused on supporting roles in Hindi films like the 2000sChal Mere Bhai, which reunited her with former co-starsKarisma Kapoor,Salman Khan andSanjay Dutt. While based in Mumbai, she continued to work in some Telugu and Tamil films, such asAllari Ramudu^[10] andCitizen,^[11][12][13] as well as taking leading roles in some Malayalam films includingChathurangam.^[14][15][16]

Nagma has acted in Bhojpuri films, including films with theBig Boss participantRavi Kishan. She won a Best Actress award at the 2005 Bhojpuri Film Awards for her performance inDulha Milal Dildar.^[17] In 2006'sGanga, she starred in the title role oppositeAmitabh Bachchan andHema Malini. When asked why she shifted to Bhojpuri films, she said "I wanted to do films in different languages. I have already done films in 10 languages. My first Bhojpuri filmPanditji Bataayina Biyaah Kab Hoii was a huge hit. After that, the offers poured in and they were too good to be ignored."^[18] When interviewed byThe Hindu in Delhi in April 2007, she indicated that another important reason for her decision to focus on Bhojpuri films was to help with her political campaigning.^[19]

In 2006, she made her Punjabi film debut, starring alongsideRaj Babbar inEk Jind Ek Jaan.^[20]

Discussing her career in aMid-Day interview in September 2006, Nagma said "I have learned nine languages, so I want to do films in all languages. On the Hindi film front, I am in the process of signing a very big period thriller. I am getting to do a variety of roles with content, so I am satisfied."^{[citation needed]} While noting her commitment to complete several Bhojpuri films she was involved with, in March 2007, she expressed her intention to next focus on returning to Hindi films after wrapping up her projects. In her 2007Hindustan Times interview, in which she discusses her future plans for cinema and politics, Nagma responded to a question about her reputation for controversy by saying "You need guts to deal with controversies. Of course, whether it's for negative or positive reasons, I’ve always been in the news."^[21]

It was reported thatBharatiya Janata Party (BJP), wanted to field Nagma as a candidate from Hyderabad for the 2004 General Lok Sabha Elections.^[22][23] But she decided to join Congress in 2004 and campaigned in Andhra Pradesh.She cited Congress Party's "commitment towards secularism and welfare of the poor and weaker sections" as her reason for joining.^[22] Later, after joining the Congress, Nagma has reportedly said that she first supported the Congress Party because of her admiration forRajiv Gandhi.^[24]

She contested 2014 Lok Sabha elections fromMeerut as Congress candidate, securing fourth position with 42,911 votes.^[25] She lost her deposit.^[26]

In a 2006 interview, she made a direct link between her family history and her political activism: "My mom is Muslim and my dad is Hindu. We were brought up to respect all religions. She said "I personally experienced the Love of Jesus Christ from early on and His uniqueness and identifies herself as a Christian.^[27] Communal riots pained me. I wanted to do something. So I joined politics." She had to turn down an offer to run for India'sLok Sabha in 2003 due to her many film commitments. "If I wanted to become a member of Parliament I would need to give 100 per cent to my constituency — which I could not at that point of time."^[28] In an interview with theHindustan Times in 2007, she said "politics will continue".^[21]

Nagma was appointed the general secretary ofAll India Mahila Congress in 2015.^[29]

She is a recipient ofBhojpuri Film Awards two times. She won Best Actress at the first Bhojpuri Film Awards for her performance inDulha Milal Dildar.^[31] Later in 2007, she was honoured again for the same for the 2006 filmGanga, in which she played the titular role.

She was nominated atFilmfare Awards South for her work in Telugu and Tamil film industry. She was seen as the female lead inGharana Mogudu,Telugu-language film directed byK. Raghavendra Rao,^[32] oppositeChiranjeevi, for which she was nominated her firstFilmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu. She lost the award toRevathy forAnkuram . Second time, she was nominated for theFilmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil at42nd Filmfare Awards South, for her role inKadhalan, but lost to Revathi again forPriyanka (1994 film), but the team wonBest Director – Tamil forS. Shankar^[33] &Music Director – Tamil forA. R. Rahman.

In 2013, theJaipur International Film Festival (JIFF) decided to honour Nagma with a lifetime achievement award, but issued the award toSharmila Tagore instead. Nagma, who was 39 years old at the time, said, "I thought I was too young for the award, but they convinced me. They said I had been selected because of my contribution to Indian cinema". JIFF's director, Hanuman Chaudhary, said that the change was due to Nagma not responding to their invitation, but Nagma recounted toTimes of India that she accepted their invitation officially.^[34]

• List of Bhojpuri actresses

• Nagma atIMDb

• 1974 births
• Living people
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• Filmfare Awards South winners
• 20th-century Indian actresses
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• United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election
• Women in Delhi politics
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• Indian Christians
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• 21st-century Indian women politicians
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• Converts to Christianity from Islam
• Actresses in Punjabi cinema
• Actresses in Marathi cinema

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