National School of Drama graduate Nirmal Pandey made a name for himself with Shekhar Kapur’s ‘Bandit Queen’ in 1996. He received positive reviews for films like Amol Palekar's ‘Daayra’, ‘Train To Pakistan’, ‘Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin’ and ‘Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain’. He acted in mainstream flicks like ‘Laila’, ‘Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya’, ‘One 2 ka 4’ and ‘Shikari’ and in several television serials. Nirmal passed away suddenly at the age of 47 on February 18, 2010, from a heart attack in Mumbai.