---
name: "Nimrat Kaur"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/nimrat-kaur"
fi1m_id: "nimrat-kaur"
imdb_id: "nm1909661"
tmdb_id: 1077932
wikidata_id: "Q15611257"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "13 March 1982"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-10-01T23:23:43.027917+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Nimrat Kaur

## Identity

Nimrat Kaur

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/nimrat-kaur
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** nimrat-kaur
- **IMDb ID:** nm1909661
- **TMDB ID:** 1077932
- **Wikidata ID:** Q15611257
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrat_Kaur, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15611257, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1909661/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1077932

Actor. Born 13 March 1982 in Pilani.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 13 March 1982, Pilani
- **Active:** 2011–2013
- **Also known as:** نیمرات کور, निमरत कौर 
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrat_Kaur, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15611257, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1909661/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1077932

## Fi1m on Nimrat Kaur

> Nimrat Kaur makes quiet characters worth watching for their own sake. We value the restraint she brings to *The Lunchbox*, and the determination not to let its unhappy housewife become her only job.

In *The Lunchbox* (2013), Nimrat Kaur keeps Ila's loneliness quiet enough for us to notice more than her unhappiness. Her natural delivery suits a drama built around correspondence, without making the character seem to exist only between letters. Irrfan Khan supplies the film's most persuasive restraint, but Kaur gives us a reason to keep watching independently of him. We were moved by Ila because Kaur made her matter beyond the prospect of romance. That is a considerable part of why this careful film works.

Ritesh Batra does not always give that performance enough freedom. His cautious handling can leave the film less affecting than it should be, particularly when the writing seems determined to make these people agreeable. Kaur's acting makes us want to see Ila allowed a little more awkwardness, not given another reason to be liked. Beside Khan, she holds her own without forcing a contest for attention. The frustration is with a director who has persuasive actors and could afford to trust them more.

The film brought international notice, then invitations to play more trapped, unhappy homemakers, which Kaur deliberately declined. The move to *Homeland* (2014, returning in 2020) put that contained manner to work as intelligence officer Tasneem Qureishi. There is a useful continuity here: quiet acting need not mean a character who has little power over what happens. *The Test Case* (2017–18) gave her the lead as Captain Shikha Sharma, with physical preparation to match the demands of the part. These were sensible ways to avoid repeating Ila.

That does not mean the material always keeps up: *The Test Case* can drift towards soap opera despite her performance. The comic timing of her Bimla Devi in *Dasvi* (2022) points towards other possibilities. We would welcome more comedy, rather than another demonstration that she can suffer with composure. Her restraint is useful, but there is no reason every role should ask for it. Start with *The Lunchbox*; do not mistake it for the limit of what she can do.

## Biography

Nimrat Kaur is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films and American television series. She began her career as a print model in Mumbai and worked in theatre before making her film debut in a small role in the English-language film *One Night with the King* (2006).

Kaur starred in Anurag Kashyap's production *Peddlers* (2012), which screened at the Cannes Film Festival. She received wider recognition for her lead role as Ila in *The Lunchbox* (2013), also screened at Cannes. In 2015 she played the recurring role of ISI agent Tasneem Qureishi in the television series *Homeland*, reprising the part in its eighth season. Her other credits include *Airlift* (2016), *The Family Man* (2019) and *Dasvi* (2022).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, aninews.in.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Lunchbox* (2013), Fi1m 75, as Ila — [page](https://film.one/film/the-lunchbox.md)
- *Homeland* (2011), Fi1m 78, as Tasneem Qureishi — [page](https://film.one/tv/homeland.md)

## Complete filmography (23)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Vvaan* (2026), Actor — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/film/the-vvaan.md)
- *Kaalidhar Laapata* (2025), as Meera
- *Kull: The Legacy of the Raisingghs* (2025), series, as Indrani Raisinggh
- *Sky Force* (2025), as Preeti Ahuja
- *Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video* (2023), as Bela Barot
- *School of Lies* (2023), series, as Nandita Mehra
- *Dasvi* (2022), as Bimla Devi
- *Foundation* (2021), series, as Dr. Yanna Kine — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/tv/foundation.md)
- *The Family Man* (2019), series, as Meera Eston
- *The Test Case* (2017), series, as Captain Shikha Sharma
- *Love Shots* (2016), series, Actor
- *Airlift* (2016), as Amrita Katyal
- *Wayward Pines* (2015), series, as Rebecca Yedlin
- *El’ayichi* (2015), as Padu
- *Masterchef* (2014), as Mother
- *The Lunchbox* (2013), as Ila — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lunchbox.md)
- *Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana* (2012), as Muskaan Khurana
- *Peddlers* (2012), as Kuljeet
- *Homeland* (2011), series, as Tasneem Qureshi, Tasneem Qureishi — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/homeland.md)
- *One Night with the King* (2006), as Sarah
- *Yahaan* (2005), as News Anchor Interviewer
- *Section 84*, as Zoya
- *Detective Comedy*, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Nimrat Kaur](https://film.one/media/person/95001/gallery-f119a345459b.jpg) Nimrat Kaur — Bollywood Hungama, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Nimrat_Kaur_2014.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Nimrat Kaur](https://film.one/media/person/95001/gallery-6c1c5875a0c4.jpg) Nimrat Kaur — Image via TMDB
- ![Nimrat Kaur](https://film.one/media/person/95001/gallery-41f4169a84c4.jpg) Nimrat Kaur — Image via TMDB
- ![Nimrat Kaur](https://film.one/media/person/95001/gallery-2d786d829d42.jpg) Nimrat Kaur — Image via TMDB
- ![Nimrat Kaur](https://film.one/media/person/95001/gallery-51ef6d95f563.jpg) Nimrat Kaur — Image via TMDB

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/nimrat-kaur