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Celebs with a cause
She made grey hair fashionable. And she has no intention of letting her hair colour decide the pace of life. "I just follow my passions," she says, vowing she will do so until "whatever age I live".
The 1974 national swimming champion who dove into the world of modelling to emerge as Miss India 1976, rode as a jockey, then moved on to films like Junoon and now plans to don the neta topi was in Toronto along with Sharmila Tagore.
Both Sharmila Tagore and Nafisa Ali made no secret of their goal to expose India's challenges with Aids treatment, prevention and education at the 2006 International AIDS conference.
It was four years ago that Nafisa founded an NGO-Action India Trust-to spread awareness about HIV and help the Aids-affected and in December 2005 Sharmila was appointed as Good Will Ambassador of UNICEF.
Fame has given both a platform to talk about AIDS and HIV.
"I cash in on that and make my point whenever I can," Tagore said without hesitation.
She spoke about a trip to Uganda where she met young children living with AIDS.
"Nothing prepared me for what I saw," she said, tears shining in her eyes.
She confessed that Aids is still a taboo topic in India.
"The denial is over, but the stigma remains," she said, adding that she pushes people to become aware.
"I can say things like condom, sex and safe sex, and because of my seniority and status people listen."
Tagore has acted in more than 100 films, in a career that began in 1959 when she was only 13. “I am still acting, I've never really retired," she said.
Besides her work with Aids and numerous other charities in India, Tagore is still making waves on the big screen. In her latest Bollywood movie, Viruddh, she plays Sumitra, the wife of a character played by Amitabh Bachchan.
"I am also going to be working with Aparna Sen, who is a meaningful cinema director, in October," she said.
Tagore was appointed as head of India's Central Board of Film Certification in 2004.
As for Ali, after winning the Miss India pageant, she made one movie before leaving her film career for marriage, which she did with "no regrets."
In the past few years, however, she has reappeared in Bollywood movies such as Major Saab (1998), where she played alongside Bachchan.
But these days, Ali's gorgeous face is mostly photographed at activist-related events.
She is tireless in her Aids activism, sharing her views without sugar coating.
"HIV has no race, class, creed or country," Ali said. "It is about human beings — human beings who need help," she added.
Discussion of AIDS was interspersed with lighter conversation, such as Ali's reminiscences about her athletic accomplishments.
"Can you believe I was the national swimming champion?" she said of her 1974 title in India. "They used to call me the sizzling water baby!"
Laughter rippled around the table.
"Sometimes it's better not to think too much," Ali said. "Just act, instead."
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