Nadira (born Florence Ezekiel; 5 December 1932 – 9 February 2006), was an Indian actress who worked in the

Hindi film industry Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. She appeared in films from the 1950s and 1960s, including ''

Aan ''Aan'' (Hindi: आन, Urdu: آن, translation: ''Pride''), released as ''The Savage Princess'' in the United Kingdom and United States, is a 1952 Indian Bollywood adventure film, produced and directed by Mehboob Khan. It was India's first t ...

'' (1952), ''

Shree 420 ''Shree 420'' (also spelled as ''Shri 420''; ) is a 1955 Indian Hindi comedy-drama film directed and produced by Raj Kapoor from a story written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas whose use of Shree with the negative connotations of 420 caused controversy. ...

(1955)'', '' Pakeezah'' (1972), and ''

Julie Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

'' (1975), which won her the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award.

Early life

Nadira was born on 5 December 1932 in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, into a

Baghdadi Jewish The former communities of Jewish migrants and their descendants from Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East are traditionally called Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews. They settled primarily in the ports and along the trade routes around the Indian ...

family. When she was an infant, her family migrated from Baghdad to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in search of business opportunities. She had two brothers, one of whom lives in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and another in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

."Jewish Stars of Bollywood"
Haaretz (newspaper), Published 14 April 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2021

Career

Nadira's first appearance in cinema was in the 1943

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

-language film ''

Mauj ''Mauj'' is a 1943 Bollywood film directed by Nanabhai Bhatt and Babubhai Mistri, starring Fearless Nadia Mary Ann Evans (8 January 1908 – 9 January 1996), also known by her stage name Fearless Nadia, was an Australian-born Indian act ...

'' when she was 10 or 11 years of age. Her breakthrough came from

Sardar Akhtar Sardar Akhtar (1915–1986) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi and Urdu films. She started her acting career on the Urdu stage. Her early films were with Saroj Movietone, where she did a majority of stunt (action) roles. She came into pr ...

, wife of film director

Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan (born Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan; 9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 ...

who cast her in the film ''

'' (1952). Her role as a

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

princess in the film marked her rise to cinematic prominence. In 1955, she played a rich socialite named Maya in ''

''. She played pivotal roles in a number of films such as ''

Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai ''Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai'' () is a 1960 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film, produced by S. A. Bagar. It was written and directed by Kishore Sahu. The film stars Raaj Kumar, Meena Kumari and Nadira (actress), Nadira as leads. The film te ...

'' (1960), '' Pakeezah'' (1972), ''

Hanste Zakhm ''Hanste Zakhm'' ( Laughing Wounds) is a 1973 Indian Hindi film produced and directed by Chetan Anand (director), Chetan Anand. The film stars Navin Nischol, Priya Rajvansh, Balraj Sahni, Jeevan (actor), Jeevan in pivotal roles. The film has musi ...

'' (1973), and '' Amar Akbar Anthony'' (1977). She was often cast as a temptress or vamp, roles which were used as a foil to the chaste leading lady characters that were favoured at the time by the

. Nadira won a

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in the 1975 film ''

''. During the 1980s and 1990s, she mostly played supporting characters. Due to her image as a Westernized woman, she often played roles of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

or Anglo-Indian ladies. Her last role was in the film ''

Josh Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...

'' (2000). She was among the highest-paid actresses during her career, and was one of the first Indian actresses to own a Rolls-Royce.

Personal life

In her later years, Nadira lived alone in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, as many of her relatives had moved to

. In the last three years before her death, she had been residing in her condominium with only a housekeeper. On 24 January 2006, she suffered a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

and was admitted to a hospital in a semi-comatose state. She had multiple existing health problems, including tubercular meningitis, alcoholic liver disorder, and

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

. She died on 9 February 2006, aged 73, at the Bhatia Hospital in Tardeo, Mumbai, following a prolonged illness.

Filmography

References

External links