Master Nissar (died 1980) was an Indian actor and singer who became popular for his work in Hindi cinema during the early 1930s. His credits as a leading actor include the musicals Shirin Farhad and Laila Majnu (both 1931), two of the earliest Hindi talkies in which he also sang for himself. Ashok Raj, the author of Hero (2009), credits Nissar alongside Master Vithal for shaping the cinematic personality of the Indian film leading man.
Nissar began his acting career on stage, sometimes playing female roles due to the lack of women actors at the time.: 93 Later joining the Madan Theatre of Calcutta, Nissar entered films in the 1930s and earned immediate success due to his fluent Urdu and singing ability. In 1931, he starred opposite Jehanara Kajjan in Shirin Farhad, a romantic story based on the legend of Shahnameh, that was "narrowly beaten" to release by Alam Ara as India's first sound film.: 254 Nissar's further appearances alongside Kajjan, in the musicals Laila Majnu (1931) and Indrasabha (1932), established the singing duo as a popular onscreen couple.: 255
Continuing his film career, Nissar collaborated with the director Mohan Bhavnani in films such as Rangeela Rajpoot and Afzal (both 1933), and also starred in J. P. Advani's costume dramas. A review of Afzal by The Bombay Chronicle hailed Nissar as a "golden-voiced star whose work, both in acting and singing is a real treat". In 1937, Nissar played his last major screen role in the rural crime drama Kisan Kanya, one of India's earliest colour films.: 272 His prominence as a leading man declined with the rise of younger actors such as K. L. Saigal and Ashok Kumar.
Contemporary journalist B. K. Karanjia mentions Nissar's subsequent decline in his memoirs: "Master Nissar, the first popular hero of the talkie era and a singer of repute, a man who changed cars every month in the heyday of his career, was in a very bad way with a large family to support." Having turned to begging in his last days, Nissar died in 1980.
