Nutan was the eldest child of famous 40's actress Shobana Samarth. Born on the 4th June 1936, Nutan was dismissed by producers and director’s as 'skinny' and 'ugly' when she wanted to enter films. She was first cast by Chandulal Shah and K Asif as the heroine opposite Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar in the year 1949. However the film flopped miserably. She got recognition only in the year 1951 when her films Hum Log (1951) and Nagina (1951) were major success. The same year she was also crowned the first ever Miss India.

Nutan earned her first Filmfare Award as best actress for the film Seema in the year 1955. From that moment onwards there was no looking back. Nutan was known to perform every role with a certain moral superiority and grace. Her face, described by late make-up maestro Sarosh Mody as "a cameraman's dream because she has no bad angles." Nutan was a thinking actress who tried to perceive the undeveloped motivations of her characters.

In 1959 she married a naval Lieutenant Commander by the name of Rajnish Bahl. She won the second Filmfare aware for Best Actress for a powerful performance in the film Sujata. Nutan eased out of films when her son, Mohnish Bahl was born. But the spotlight shone bright once again after the award winning Bandini (1963), a portrayal that remains etched on our minds as one of the finest in Indian cinema.

Through the 60's and 70's Nutan regularly picked up awards for diverse roles in films like Milan (1967: Best actress award), Saraswati Chandra (1968), Saudagar (1973) and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978: Best actress award). Renowned directors as distinct as Bimal Roy, Manmohan Desai, Raj Khosla and Basu Bhattacharya have named her as their favourite actress. In the year 1985 she won the award for the most outstanding performance for the film Meri Jung. After over 40 years in the profession, Nutan passed away in February 1991 at the age of 54 to cancer.