An evergreen actress is what one thinks as an apt definition for Nirmal Rishi. She has entertained different generations with her ‘realistic acting’ in the Punjab cinema. The term ‘realistic acting’ might sound a bit ironical to some of you, but, that is the reality. Having made her debut in K. Pappu’s ‘Ucha Dar Babe Nanak Da’ in 1985, Nirmal Rishi has walked a long and successful road in the Punjabi film industry.
Nirmal Rishi was born on 01/11/1943 in Mansa. Before her debut in Punjabi movies, she was a regular at theatrical plays. During her younger days, she did plays under the guidance of probably the most successful play writers in Punjab, Harpal Tiwana. The months spent on rehearsing those plays in those times is what has made her into a flourishing actress.
Despite all the plays and movies that she has acted in, ‘Long Da Lishkara’ (1986) will go down as a signature movie in her career. Her role of ‘Gulabo Massi’ is still and will always be cherished by fans of the Punjabi cinema all over the globe. The movie also starred renowned names like Raj Babbar, Om Puri, Gurdas Maan, Sardar Sohi, Harpreet Deol, Neena Tiwana (wife of Harpal Tiwana), Mehar Mittal and Manjeet Maan (wife of Gurdas Maan). It was directed and produced by Harpal Tiwana. Raj Babbar, Om Puri and Sardar Sohi were all students of Harpal Tiwana and had worked under him during his theatrical plays.
Tiwana casted Rishi in his next movie, ‘Diva Bale Sari Raat’ (1990) and her role of Jindo was once again appreciated by the audience. She acted as Tejo in ‘Ankhila Soorma’ and Kauri in ‘Khel Taqdeeran De’ and gained more accolades.
Soon followed a long hiatus from the film industry as far as movies were concerned. However, she continued to appear in theatrical plays. She staged a comeback in 2008 with Kamal Sahni’s ‘Sat Sri Akal’. In what can be termed as her second innings in the industry, she did Yuvraj Singh and Niharika Sahni’s ‘Oh My Pyo’ in 2014, where she portrayed the role of Parminder, Binnu’s (Binnu Dhillon) mother.
The 2015-superhit Punjabi comic-love story, ‘Angrej’, saw her successfully portraying the role of Maarho’s (Aditi Sharma) grandmother. The following year, another blockbuster, ‘Love Punjab’ happened. She played the role of Parghat Brar’s (Amrinder Gill) mother in the movie. Her chemistry with her on-screen husband (Yograj Singh) was worth a watch. She continued her excellence with ‘Nikka Zaildar’, which released the same year. She left everyone spellbound and full of laughter with her role of Nikka’s (Ammy Virk) dominating grandmother in the movie.
Even at this age, there is no stopping Nirmal Rishi. With the kind of admiration that she has received in the past years and with new more movies lined up, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that she is at the peak of her career.
