‘Fearless Nadia’ was an actress and first stuntwoman of India, who was one of the biggest stars in the 1930s-40s in Indian cinema. Born Mary Ann Evans, in Perth, Australia in 1908 to a British soldier father and Greek mother, she moved to Bombay in 1913 when her father got stationed there. Evans learned stunts as a circus performer in Peshawar and then, joined a touring dance troupe in Bombay, which eventually led her way to Bollywood.
On her birth anniversary, here’s a walk down to the memory lane of Nadia’s daring stunts –
A natural performer, Mary in her mid-twenties trained herself in horse riding, gymnastics, tennis, tap dance, ballet and gymnastics.
Before entering the show business, Mary chose the pseudonym ‘Nadia’ on the advice of a fortune teller.
Evans learned stunts as a circus performer in Peshawar and then, joined a touring dance troupe in Bombay, which eventually led her way to Bollywood.
It is around this time that she caught the eye of filmmaker Jamshed Boman Homi Wadia, better known as JBH, who was impressed by her physical strength and capabilities. Wadia gave her a small role as a slave girl in Desh Deepak and then as Princess Parizaad in Noor-e-Yaman.
Nadia’s first feature length film – Hunterwali – was a massive hit which made her famous across the nation.
She starred in about 50 films, mostly of Action genre. In her first film, she jumped off a moving cart and fought 20 people single-handedly. From then on, Nadia tried all kinds of stunts in her movies, starting from fighting atop trains to swinging from chandeliers, bashing men and taming lions.
Nadia went on to deliver successive hits in the coming years till she retired in 1968, with her final performance in the movie “Khiladi”.
She died at the ripe age of 88 in Mumbai in 1996.
