Born Nandita Arvind Morarji, Nagma is an Indian actress and former politician known for appearing in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Marathi, and Malayalam language movies. She made her silver screen debut with the Hindi film Baaghi: A Rebel for Love (1990), co-starring Salman Khan. After a good start in Bollywood, Nagma shifted her base down south, mostly acting in Tamil and Telugu films, along with a few Hindi ones. Later in her career, she also became popular in the Bhojpuri film industry.

Early Life
Born to a Muslim mother, Shama Kazi and Hindu father Arvind Pratapsinh Morarji, Nagma's parents separated after only a few years of their marriage. Nagma continued living with her mother, who later married Chander Sadanah, a film producer, with whom she has two daughter- Jyothika, and Radhika. Through her father, who also remarried, Nagma has two half brothers- Dhanraj, and Yuvraj.

Movie Career
In December 1990, Nagam starred opposite Salman Khan, in her maiden film Baaghi: A Rebel for Love. This romantic drama was a big hit at the box office and the young Nagma, who was 15 years then, became an overnight star. Next year, she ventured into the South Indian film industry, with two Telugu releases Peddinti Alludu, and Killer. The year 1992 saw Nagma act in as many as six films, out of with four were Hindi language ones, and two were Telugu. In 1993, Nagma starred along with Shah Rukh Khan, Jackie Shroff, and Anu Aggarwal in the comedy drama movie King Uncle. Directed by Rakesh Roshan, the movie was a box office dud and failed to do much to boost Nagma's Bollywood career. Her debacle in the Hindi film industry was camouflaged by the super hit movie she appeared in down south- Kondapalli Raj. The remake of the Tamil film Annamalai, which was a remake of Rakesh Roshan's Khudgarz, Kondapalli Raj was a runaway hit. Along with Nagma, the movie starred Venkatesh and Suman in the lead roles.

1994 was a very successful year for Nagma, as she won the Filmfare Best Actress Award (Tamil), for Kadhalan, which also marked her Tamil movie debut. In the same year, she starred alongside Karishma Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, and Ajay Devgn in the drama Suhaag. The movie had a good run at the box office and was one of the highest grossing Bollywood films of the year. In 1994, the actress had a series of successful films even in the Telugu Industry; Kandhalan, Super Police, Gangmaster, and Mugguru Monagall, all of them opened to fairly good reviews. Starring Prabhu Deva, and Nagma in the lead role, Kandhalan enjoyed huge commercial success, winning many accolades and awards, including the Filmfare Best Actress Award for Nagma.

In the subsequent years, she starred in Tamil and Telugu films like Baashha, Villadhi Villain, Love Birds, Janakiraman, and Vaettiya Madichu Kattu. In 2000, she returned to Hindi film with Chal Mere Bhai, which along with her starred Karishma Kapoor, Salman Khan, and Sanjay Dutt. Amidst her movie commitments, she also started attending Art of Living and gradually started teaching there herself. In 2005, after establishing herself as an immensely popular actress in South India, she forced into Bhojpuri cinema. She won the Bhojpuri Film Award for Best Actress for Dulha Milal Dildaar and soon became a leading actress there. She subsequently also appeared in a Bengali movie Pariraam. In 2006, Nagma made her Punjabi film debut with Ek Jind Ek Jaan and in the same year starred opposite Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini in the Bhojpuri movie Ganga. Her fame led her fans and media, refer her as the 'Rani of Bhojpuri movies'. Next year, in 2007, she starred in her maiden Marathi film Thamb Lakshmi Thamb.