Fearless Nadia (8 January 1908 – 9 January 1996) was an
Indian film actress and stuntwoman, who is most remembered the masked, cloaked adventuress in
Hunterwali (The Princess and the Hunter) made in 1935
NFAI., which was one of the earliest female lead
Indian films .
Biography
Early life
Fearless Nadia was born as
Mary Ann Evans on 8 January 1908 in
Perth, Western Australia. She was the daughter of Scotsman Herbertt Evans, a volunteer in the
British Army, and Margret, a
Greek dancer and theatre person. They lived in Australia, before coming to India. Mary was one year old when Herbertt's regiment was seconded to
Bombay. Mary came to Bombay in 1913 at the age of five with her father. She learned horseback riding during a stay in the
North-West Frontier Province and then studied ballet under Madam Astrova after returning to Bombay in the mid-1920s.
Career
She toured India as a theatre artist and began working for
Zarko Circus in 1930. She changed her name to Nadia at the insistence of an Armenian fortune-teller. She made her debut in the Arabic film
Makhazane el ochak (1932), which was filmed in
Egypt. She was introduced to
Hindi films by
J.B.H. Wadia who was the founder of
Wadia Movietone, the behemoth of stunts and action in 1930s Bombay.
She made her debut in
Hindi films with
Lal-e-Yaman (1933). The film became a huge hit at the box-office and she became famous with doing...
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