Google on Monday paid tribute to Australia-born Indian Bollywood actress – Nadia in their Google Doodle.
The doodle marked Fearless Nadia’s 110th birth anniversary.
Remembered as the Stunt Queen of India, she was fondly called ‘Fearless Nadia’ for her daring roles in movies like Hunterwali (1935), Pahadi Kanya (1936), Diamond Queen (1940) and Lutaru Lalna (1938).
She was named Mary Ann Evans by her family who shifted base from Australia to India when she was five.
While growing up in India, Nadia was trained in several difficult skills, such as horseback riding, hunting, fishing and shooting.
While she was honing these skills, she caught the eye of Jamshed Boman Homi Wadia, then Bollywood’s famous director, screenwriter and producer of Bollywood.
He introduced her to cinema and she starred in several of his movies subsequently. Nadia later married him.
Her ease at performing stunts in movies broke several stereotypes within the industry, which at the time only witnessed male actors performing their own stunts.
According to NDTV, before being discovered by Wadia, who she later married, Nadia worked as a dancer in a dancing-troupe-cum-circus in Mumbai.
Recently, Indian director Vishal Bhardwaj paid homage to the Fearless Nadia, through the character of Jaanbaaz Julia, played by Kangana Ranaut, in his film ‘Rangoon’, celebrating the priceless years of her contribution to Indian cinema.
