Bollywood's First Stunt Woman - Fearless Nadia

Mary Ann Evans was born in 1908 in Perth, Australia. She was described as 'Fearless' by many and thus was also known by her second name Fearless Nadia. The original Bollywood stunt woman would have been 110 today. 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. Her debut role in Bollywood was in the movie Hunterwali that was released in 1935. Her stunts did not stop there and she continued swinging on chandeliers, taming lions and even leaping from speeding trains in her series of movies.

Her life is loosely portrayed by Kangana Ranaut in the movie Rangoon. Nadia always stood out in the roles she performed and often portrayed the women fighting injustice. Dorothee Wenner referred her as a 'radical feminist actress' in her book Fearless Nadia: The True Story of Bollywood's stunt queen. A theme that was quite popular by the end of British era. She became India's first world renowned actress after her names reached to countries such as Italy, Greece and France. It made her widely popular in different parts of the world. In 1993, Fearless: The Hunterwali Story was released which was a documentary film on her life and career and was produced by her great grandnephew.

By: Neha Maheshwari

Content: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fearless_Nadia