Nadira (actress)

Farhat Ezekiel Nadira (5 December 1932 – 9 February 2006), commonly known as Nadira was an actress in Indian cinema. She is best remembered for her performance in films in the 1950s and 1960s such as Shree 420 (1955), Pakeezah (1972) and Julie (1975), which won her Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. IMDB

Early life

Nadira was born to a Baghdadi Jewish family. She is survived by two brothers, one of whom lives in the USA and another in Israel.

Career

Nadira rose to cinematic prominence with the 1952 film Aan with her role as a savage princess. She did a bold scene in the movie. In 1955, she played a rich socialite named Maya in Shree 420. She played lead roles in a number of films such as Dil Apna Prit Parayee, Hanste Zakhm, Amar Akbar Anthony and Pakeezah. She was often cast as a temptress or vamp, and played opposite the chaste heroines then favored by the Bollywood film industry.

Nadira won a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress, her role as Julie's mother Margaret, 'Maggie', in the 1975 film Julie. During the 1980s and 1990s, she entered a new phase of her career, playing elderly women as a supporting actress. Her last role was in the film Josh (2000). In her longtime career, because of...
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