Entertainment News Desk – Who doesn’t like to see stars in action avatar on the big screen? Fighting villains, doing stunts with vehicles or jumping into fire, stars are seen doing all kinds of actions in films. Now while heroines are seen doing action themselves in films, there was a time when they used to run away from it. At the same time, during the period of 1930-40, there was an actress who never shied away from doing action scenes. Without any harness, she would jump from heights, swing from chandeliers, play with fire and sometimes clash with men on top of a moving train. The name of this actress was Nadia, who was known as ‘Fearless Nadia’.
She came to Bombay after her father’s posting.
The real name of Nadia, who surprised everyone with her acting in films, was Mary Ann Evans. Born on 8 January 1908 in Perth, Australia, Nadia said goodbye to this world in 1996, a day after her birthday i.e. on 9 January. Nadia’s father was Scottish and a volunteer in the British Army. His mother was Greek. When Nadia was one year old, her father was transferred to Bombay (Mumbai), when she came here for the first time. After this, her father died in the First World War and she came to Mumbai with her family.
Learned horse riding in Pakistan
In the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan), Nadia learned gunsmithing, hunting, fishing, and horse riding. At that time Nadia had no idea what she was going to do in the future. But still he worked hard to strengthen his body and this helped him a lot later. Then suddenly something happened that he had to return to Mumbai with his family. Here she worked as a sales girl in the Army and Navy stores in Bombay. Nadia wanted to become a singer since childhood, but fate had other plans and she joined the group of Russian dancer Madam Astrova, who used to perform in the gatherings of the royal families of India.
This is how Mary Nadia became
Mary Ann Evans received the name Nadia while in Madame Astrova’s group. In fact, the Armenian astrologer told him that success was waiting for him, so he had to start his name with ‘N’. After this, he chose the name Nadia because it was easily understood by Indians and also sounded good. The astrologer’s prediction came true and later Nadia became very famous. However, after coming into films, some people advised her to change her name to Nanda Devi. But Nadia clearly refused this. While in the group, she became expert in acrobatics.
Luck shines by becoming ‘Hunterwali’
After this, the owner of a cinema hall in Lahore noticed Nadia and told the Wadia Brothers about her. When Nadia reached the Wadia Brothers’ studio, they were surprised to see her western face. After this, he initially gave small roles to Nadia, for which she was paid Rs 60 per month. After this the film ‘Hunterwali’ came, which made Nadia a star. Seeing Nadia in the film created a stir everywhere. Everyone was astonished to see him riding a horse and fighting with men. Her fearlessness became a trademark and she changed from Nadia to ‘Fearless Nadia’.
