Fearless Nadia: The Australian stuntwoman who captivated Indians - BBC News

Known by her stage name Fearless Nadia, Mary Ann Evans ruled the Indian box office in the 1930s and 40s.

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, AlamyImage caption, 'To school kids of the mid-forties Fearless Nadia meant courage, strength and idealism'By Meryl SebastianBBC News, Kochi"The single most memorable sound of my childhood was the clarion call of 'Hey-y-y' as Fearless Nadia, regal upon her horse, her hand raised defiantly in the air, rode down upon the bad guys," acclaimed Indian playwright and director Girish Karnad wrote in 1980.

"To school kids of the mid-forties, Fearless Nadia meant courage, strength and idealism."

Actress and stuntwoman Mary Ann Evans, best known by her stage name Fearless Nadia, took the Indian film industry by storm in 1935 when she appeared in the Hindi film Hunterwali (The Woman with a Whip).

A blonde, blue-eyed woman of Australian origin, she made a splash as she appeared in a cape, leather shorts and knee-high boots with a whip in hand.

Evans was born in Perth, Australia, in 1908 to a Greek mother and British father, according to Rosie Thomas, author of Bombay before Bollywood. She arrived in India in 1911 with her father's army unit but settled with her family in Bombay (now Mumbai) after his death.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-68271363

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