Fearless Nadia

Mary Ann Evans (8 January 1908 – 9 January 1996), also known by her stage name Fearless Nadia, was an Australian-Indian actress and stuntwoman, who worked in Indian cinema. She is most remembered as the masked, cloaked adventurer in Hunterwali, released in 1935, which was one of the earliest female-led 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. 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 .

In 1915, her father's untimely death at the hands of Germans during World War I prompted the family's move to Peshawar (now in Pakistan). In 1967–68, when she was in her late 50s, she appeared in a James Bond spoof called Khiladi (The Player).

Personal life Nadia married Homi Wadia in 1961 and thus became Nadia Wadia. The couple did not have children, but Homi adopted Nadia's son.

Death Nadia died on 9 January 1996, soon after her 88th birthday, After watching the documentary at the 1993 Berlin International Film Festival, Dorothee Wenner, a German freelance writer, and film curator, wrote Fearless Nadia: The true story of Bollywood's original stunt queen, which was subsequently translated into English in 2005. In Vishal Bharadwaj's Hindi film Rangoon, the role played by Kangana Ranaut was inspired by Nadia.

To commemorate her 100th birthday, in 2015 the Government of India issued a postage stamp with her likeness.

On 8 January 2018, Google displayed a doodle paying tribute to Fearless Nadia's 110th birthday. The artist commissioned for the doodle was the Indian comic illustrator Devaki Neogi. In the same year, the University of Melbourne and the Australia India Institute published a collection of original essays entitled Fearless Nadia Occasional Papers.

Filmography (selected) Year Title Role Notes 1935 Hunterwali (A Woman with a Whip) Princess Madhuri a.k.a. Hunterwali 1936 Miss Frontier Mail Savita a.k.a. Miss Frontier Mail 1938 Lutaru Lalna (Dacoit Damsel or The Dacoit Girl) Indira 1939 Punjab Mail 1940 Diamond Queen Madhurika 1941 Bambaiwali (The Girl from Bombay) 1942 Jungle Princess 1942 Muqabala Madhuri 1943 Hunterwali Ki Beti Princess Madhuri a.k.a. Hunterwali 1943 Mauj 1948 11 O'Clock Lakshmi 1949 Dhoomketu (The Comet) 1953 Jungle Ka Jawahar (Hero of the Forest) Mala 1956 Jungle Queen 1956Baghdad Ka JaduYasmina 1968 Khiladi