Purnima Das Verma

Purnima Das Varma (born Meher Bano; 2 March, 1932 — 14 August, 2013) was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Hindi-language films. She was the aunt of director Mahesh Bhatt and grandmother of actor Emraan Hashmi.

Personal life As per her interview to film journalist and historian Shishir Krishna Sharma of Beete Hue Din blog who had interviewed her during the 2000s, Purnima was born on 2 March 1932 in Bombay (now Mumbai). Her father Ram Sheshadri Ayangar was a Tamil Brahmin who used to handle accounts at film distributor Kikubhai Desai's (father of filmmaker Manmohan Desai) office. Her mother was from Muslim family of Lucknow. Purnima had four sisters and a brother. Her elder sister, Shirin, is the second wife of filmmaker Nanabhai Bhatt and mother of directors Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt. During the 1930s, Shirin had worked in films viz. Bambai Ki Sethani (1935), Passing Show (1936), Khwab Ki Duniya (1937), State Express (1938) and Bijli (1939). Shirin was the person who gave the screen name 'Purnima' to Meher Bano. Meher Bano had first got married at very early age. Her first husband was a journalist named Syed Shauqat Hashmi, who moved to Pakistan during the partition of India after separating from her. Her son from this first marriage, Anwar Hashmi (father of Emraan Hashmi), acted in Baharon Ke Manzil (1968) opposite Farida Jalal. She also played the role of Amitabh Bachchan's mother, in the film Zanjeer.

Death Purnima had Alzheimer's disease during the last few years of her life and died on 14 August, 2013 at the age of 81 in Mumbai. Mahesh Bhatt later revealed on Twitter, "My aunt Purnima, the first star of our family and who happens to be Emraan Hashmi's grandmother has entered the sunset moments of her life."

Selected filmography