Nimal made his career debut with Nufoozu (1984), an initiation by Shareef and his colleagues. Initially assigned to work behind the camera, Shareef requested him to star in the lead role of the film due to a date conflict of the original actor who was offered the role first. Afterwards, he started working as a full-time actor and led an organization "Dhivehi Harakaaiy Jamiyya" along with Shareef.