Biography

Nadira Babbar is a veteran Indian theatre director, actor, and playwright.Her father, Late Sayed Sajjar Zaheer, was one of the founding members of the Progressive Writers Association and Afro-Asian Writers Association. He was also one of the founders of the association of Indian theatre artists Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA) and Communist Party of India. After the partition of India in 1947, he formed the Communist Party of Pakistan in newly formed Pakistan. He was sentenced to jail for eight years at the time of Nadira Babbars birth. An old picture of Nadira Babbar with her family.After completing a diploma from the National School of Drama, Delhi, Nadira received a scholarship from the Indian government to study further in Germany at Berliner Ensemble, a German theatre company.While Nadira was working as a theatre producer at the National School of Drama (NSD), she met the Indian actor & politician Raj Babbar. At that time, Raj was a newcomer at the NSD, they both worked on a theatre play and play and fell for each other. Soon, Raj proposed to Nadira for marriage without considering that she was four years older than him. In the initial years of their marriage, Nadira and Raj lived at Nadiras mothers home. During an interview, Nadira talked about the initial days of her married life. She said,.Later, Nadira, Raj, and their children moved to Mumbai, and soon, Raj became a well-known name in the Hindi film industry. Whereas, Nadira started her theatre group Ekjute. In an interview, she talked about forming her theatre group. She said,.Nadira was living a happy married life with her two children until Raj met the veteran Indian actress Smita Patil while shooting for the Hindi film Bheegi Raate in 1982. Raj started liking Smita, and soon, his liking turned into love. He proposed to Smita for marriage, and later, they secretly got married. Smita Patil and Raj Babbar.Soon, the rumours of their marriage started in the media, and when Nadira confronted Raj, he confessed that he was married to Smita without getting divorced from Nadira. She then decided to live separately with her children, Juhi and Arya, and Raj moved in with Smita.On 28 November 1986, Smita and Raj were blessed with a baby boy, Prateik Babbar, but Smita had various birthchild complications while giving birth to Prateik. Smita could not survive long and within a few days of Prateiks birth, she passed away at the age of 31.Nadira, along with her children, Juhi and Arya, attended the funeral of Smita Patil. During an interview, Nadira talked about it. She said,.Later, Nadira accepted Raj back into her life, and Prateik lived with his maternal grandparents. At that time, various media sources said that Nadira was a doormat, as she accepted Raj back into her life. In an interview, Nadira talked about it. She said,.