Nirmal Pandey Biography

Nirmal Pandey (born 1961/1962 – 18 February 2010) was an Indian Bollywood  actor, who was known for his role Vikram Mallah in Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen (1994), for portrayal of a transvestite in Daayraa (1996) for which he won a Best Actor Valenti award in France, Train To Pakistan (1998) and Godmother (1999).

He was supposed to watch his latest film Lahore on 22 February 2010 at a special screening with Legendary Humorist R. K. Laxman and Music Maestro MM Kreem. Lahore, scheduled to be released in 19 March 2010, would prove to be Pandey's last film.

Career
After leaving the National School of Drama he moved to London, with a theatre group, Tara, performing plays like Heer Ranjha, Antigone, and has acted in around 125 plays. After doing two small roles, he first got noticed in Shekhar Kapur's acclaimed Bandit Queen (1996), there after he received rave reviews for films like, Amol Palekar's Daayra (Square Circle) (1996), Train To Pakistan (1998), Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi and Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain.[3][4] He also acted in movies like Laila, 'Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya', 'One 2 ka 4' and 'Shikari' and acted in several television serials, including Hatim, and Princess Dollie Aur Uska Magic Bag (2005) (Star Plus) .

In addition to being an actor, he was also a singer, who released an album called Jazba. In 2002, he directed, Andhayug, a Hindi play, written by noted playwright Dharamveer Bharati, which follows the 18 days following the Mahabharata war. The play has a cast of 70 actors, all of whom belong to Sanvedna, a theatre group started by him in 1994.He also has an acting institute "Fresh Talent Academy" in Ghazaiabad, and also conducts theatre workshops .

Death
Pandey died at the age of 48 on 18 February 2010 from a heart attack in Mumbai.

Personal life
Nirmal Pandey was married to Archana Sharma. He is survived by his wife and two children.