Dilip Kumar considers her the greatest actress he ever worked with, citing her instinct for grasping the essence of a scene as second to none. Filmfare in their poll in the 1950s declared her the most beautiful woman in the movies, ahead of even Madhubala. She acted opposite all the top actors of her time barring Raj Kapoor having huge commercial successes like Samadhi (1950), Jaadu (1951), Nastik (1954), Munimjee (1955), Mr. X (1957) and Kaala Pani (1958) and received great critical acclaim for her performances in films like Rahi (1952), Shikast (1953), Railway Platform (1955) and Awaaz (1956). Yet, when one talks of the legendary actresses of the Indian screen, Nalini Jaywant's name hardly ever crops up, something that is grossly ufair to this extremely good-looking and multi-faceted actress.

Nalini Jaywant was born in Bombay in 1926, the cousin of famous actress Shobana Samarth (mother of Nutan and Tanuja). She first came to some prominence while still a teenager with Mehboob's Bahen (1941), about a brother's obsessive love for his sister. The film was known for having strong shades of incest. She just starred in a handful of films hardly making an impact till she was noticed with Anokha Pyaar (1948). The film was a love triangle with Nalini, Dilip Kumar and Nargis with Nalini sacrificing her love for the hero. It is to her credit that it was she who got the best reviews in the film as just about the only saving grace in the film..

1950 was Nalini's breakthrough year as she became a top star with two of her films opposite Ashok Kumar, Samadhi and Sangram. Samadhi was a patriotic drama addressing Subash Chandra Bose and the Indian National army. The film, though called politically obselete by leading film magazine of the day, Filmindia, was a huge success at the box office, the song Gore Gore O Banke Chhore being perhaps Nalini's most popular song ever.On the other side of the spectrum, Sangram was a gritty crime drama wherein she played the heroine reforming the anti-hero. Nalini more than left her mark on both the films and went on to form a hit pair with Ashok Kumar, the two of them doing several films together like Kafila (1952), Naubahar (1952), Saloni (1952), Mr. X and Sheroo (1957). It is said the two of them were romantically involved for a period as well.

Nalini remained an important leading lady through to the mid fifties. Filmmakers like KA Abbas (Rahi), Ramesh Saigal (Shikast - arguably her career's best performance opposite Dilip Kumar, Railway Platform) and Zia Sarhady (Awaaz) extended Nalini Jaywant’s association with realistic films while filmmakers like Mahesh Kaul (Naujavan (1951)) and AR Kardar (Jaadu) developed her alternate musical persona later personified by the frothy Filmistan musicals like Nastik, her biggest hit opposite Ajit and Munimjee, a carefree romanctic film with Dev Anand as her leading man.

Perhaps Nalini's last successful film was the Raj Khosla directed Kaala Pani (1958). She gave one of the best performances of her career as the nautch girl Kishori who is the key witness in framing the hero's father for a murder he did not commit. Playing a shaded character, she easily stole a march over goody-two-shoes heroine Madhubala and deservedly went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film. She is absolutely unforgettable in the film be it in the come-hither mujra Nazar Laage Raaja Tore Bangle pe or as she looks tearfully at Dev Anand from across the room in that all time great SD Burman composition Hum Bekhudi Mein.

Thereafter none of Nalini's subsequent films were particularly noteworthy, with her last film being Bombay Race Cource (1965) before she went into retirement. She did make a comeback of sorts playing Amitabh Bachchan's blind mother in Nastik (1983). Since then she has been living a reclusive life, keeping all to herself.