Happy birthday to me. And happy birthday to Fearless Nadia. Yes, Mary Evans—better known as Fearless Nadia, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, feisty stuntwoman who took the Hindi silverscreen by storm in the 1930’s—was born on January 8, 1908 in Perth.
And, though I may be small fry, at least I share my birthday with some interesting people. Two years back, I celebrated January 8 as the birthday of Nanda; last year I celebrated it as the birthday of Elvis Presley. This year, it’s Fearless Nadia. I’d have loved to have watched one of her iconic films—say, Hunterwaali or Miss Frontier Mail—but since those aren’t commercially available, I’m going to have to be content with this one. She’s well past her prime in Baghdad ka Jaadoo, no longer the whip-cracking siren of her early days, but she still kicks some serious ass.
Baghdad ka Jaadoo (‘Magic of Baghdad’, as it’s written in the credits) was a Basant Studios film, starring Fearless Nadia opposite her long-time co-star, John Cavas, who also directed the film. Neither of them is at their best here as far as looks are concerned, but there’s no skimping on the adventure.
The film begins somewhere out in the countryside near Baghdad (it looks like central India, but never mind). A group of gypsies, singing as they ride along and trundle along in wagons, come across a large tent out in the open.
Their immediate reaction (these guys aren’t particularly honest) is: “Something to steal!” The chief thief sneaks into the tent to see what he can pilfer, and discovers that the tent’s only occupant is a baby, who’s just been bitten by a snake that’s hovering about. The gypsy quickly stamps on the snake, squashing the life out of it; then, to prove that he’s a good soul, even if a thief, he takes out his knife, makes an incision in the baby’s arm where it’s been bitten, sucks out the poison and then cauterises the baby. (All this, thankfully, is carried out with the camera at a level well above the baby).
At this point, a man—a nobleman, if his flashy clothing and turban are anything to go by—enters. He (Sardar Mansoor?) is the father of the baby.
One look at him and the gypsy stops being a good man, and decides to steal some of this wealthy man’s riches. He leaps at the nobleman’s throat, and they battle it out. Much confusion ensues. The tent catches fire; the other gypsies race about; the nobleman gets clonked on the head and faints. The gypsy makes off with the baby, for no reason that I can see. All that nappy-changing, those feeds at odd hours, the incessant bawling… this man doesn’t know what he’s letting himself in for.
Years pass, and the ‘baby’ is now a teenager, Yasmina. Yasmina’s bosom buddy is Salim (I have no idea who most of the actors are till this point and a little beyond). Salim’s most jealous opponent is Qasim, a little boy who’s quite smitten with Yasmina and doesn’t like the idea that she prefers Salim over him. The two boys are constantly having brawls, and Yasmina, who’s pretty good at brawling herself, is constantly taking Salim’s part.
More years pass. Yasmina is now grown up (she’s Fearless Nadia), and is still best friends with Salim (John Cavas). Yasmina is also somewhat of a gangleader for the less law-abiding of the gypsies: she’s the one who distracts passersby while her buddies pick their pockets, or who shoves a hand into an unattended food stall and makes away with kababs and breads to share with her cronies.
Qasim (?) is still deeply in love with Yasmina, and every now and then proposes to her too. She politely declines each time, telling him that there’s no-one in her life except Salim.
And Qasim’s sister (Sheila Kashmiri) is in love with Salim. Qasim finds this strange preference for Salim most puzzling; he thinks Salim’s a nuisance, who, the sooner he’s removed from the surface of the earth, the better for all concerned.
The next few minutes (quite a few minutes) of the film are spent in dwelling upon how much Qasim hates Salim, and how—because Yasmina spurns him—he’s now begun to even not like her very much.
In the meantime, Yasmina’s foster father has also confessed to Salim that he is not really Yasmina’s father, and that he had actually abducted Yasmina when she was a baby. The fact that Salim now knows this isn’t used later in the film, but anyway.
Also in the meantime, the Khalifa of Baghdad is getting fed up with Yasmina’s lawlessness and has decided to announce a reward of 5,000 dinars for information leading to her arrest.
The Khalifa’s an ill man with a bad cough, but he’s resolved to live long enough to see his daughter the princess get married. He tells this to the Prime Minister (who is Yasmina’s real father, now with a few grey hairs, but otherwise recognisably the same man). The Khalifa is expecting a bunch of visitors—potential suitors for the hand of the princess—to arrive at the palace soon.
The princess (Krishna Kumari) and her maid (Vijaya Choudhary) are meanwhile consulting an old crystal-ball-gazing crone, who tells the princess that a handsome young man will soon come into her life. She then proceeds to burst the happy princess’s bubble by adding that he’ll not become a part of her life.
Remember Qasim’s hatred for Salim, and his growing hatred for Yasmina? Lured on by the thought of those 5,000 dinars offered by the Khalifa, Qasim goes off to inform on Yasmina and Salim. Fortunately for our heroine and her boyfriend, Qasim’s sister runs to Salim and Yasmina and raises the alarm, so that they flee the gypsy camp before the Khalifa’s men arrive—and end up fighting their way through the Khalifa’s palace, felling his soldiers left, right and centre.
When they return to their camp, they realise that one person’s missing: Qasim. Qasim’s treachery turns out to have proved dangerous for him; the Khalifa, suspicious of this gypsy who’s betrayed two other gypsies, has had Qasim arrested and has decreed that he be beheaded the next morning.
Of course, this means that Yasmina and Salim sneak into the palace along with their friends the next morning, and manage to rescue Qasim just as he’s coming under the executioner’s scimitar. They also take time out to do a little profitable thievery while they’re at it—Salim, for instance, manages to cling to the floor of the princess’s palanquin and pinch her jewellery off her as she’s being carried through the markets of Baghdad.
After having left the rescued Qasim back at the camp—with admonitions to give up hope of Yasmina, and to be good—Yasmina, Salim and their cronies head back to the Khalifa’s palace in Baghdad. That princess, flaunting all that fabulous jewellery of hers, is irresistible. Rather, her jewellery is irresistible. So what does this gang of no-gooders do, but enter the palace, with a view to stealing some of that jewellery?
—And, being as audacious as they are, they strut in, pretending to be part of the entourage coming to ask for the princess’s hand. Yasmina dons a beard and passes herself off as the Samundar ka Shahzada (the ‘Prince of the Sea’), and instantly wins the heart of the princess…
…while another guest, a nasty Sultan (Habib) connives with one of the courtiers (Nazir Kashmiri) to kill the Khalifa. The courtier slips some poison into the Khalifa’s drink, and before anyone knows it, the Khalifa keels over.
That is the start of the adventure. The magic of the film’s title is yet to come, after all; and Yasmina is yet to discover who her father really is, and she’s yet to show off all the mind-boggling stunts she’s capable of.
What I liked about this film:
Fearless Nadia. True, she’s well past her heyday here; she would have been in her late forties when Baghdad ka Jaadoo was made—but she still manages to pack plenty of punch. There are a lot of very gritty stunts, some smart riding, swinging from ropes, plenty of fisticuffs and bashing up of opponents. And you can see that it really is Nadia who’s doing all of that. I’m especially impressed with the smart way in which she swings a man over her shoulder, then punches him until he’s limp as a dishrag. Atta-girl, Nadia!!
Also good: the music (by Shafi M Nagri; I hadn’t heard any of these songs before, though Keh rahi hai yeh zameen sounded familiar).
What I didn’t like:
The far from satisfactory story line. Abel Kavas is credited as the writer; a relative of John Cavas’s? At any rate, he should have asked for help with the story, which goes all over the place. I don’t mind a threadbare plot for which the main reason is to showcase Fearless Nadia’s stuntwomanship. What irks me is the pointlessness of much of what happens in this film. There are isolated incidents that don’t tie up into one coherent story; there are facts that aren’t made use of to pep up the plot; and people act in ways that make no sense at all. It’s not the worst story I’ve ever come across, but if it hadn’t been for Fearless Nadia’s dynamism, I’d have found Baghdad ka Jaadoo quite lacking in jaadoo.
But yes, you do get to follow in Yasmina’s footsteps as she journeys to search for a magical shajr-e-hayat (the ‘tree of life’). And you get to see Fearless Nadia show off her skills at riding and boxing and wrestling. What a refreshing change from the usual Hindi film heroine!
Dustedoff 
Happy Birthday Madhu! Here’s wishing you many happy years ahead (and lots of interesting birthday-mate filmi-celebs for our reading pleasure)!!!
“The gypsy makes off with the baby, for no reason that I can see. All that nappy-changing, those feeds at odd hours, the incessant bawling… this man doesn’t know what he’s letting himself in for.” hahaha You make no allowances for his tender, maa ka dil! :D
Fearless Nadia films always sound way more fun on paper than in reality. I tried watching a couple of them and could not make it through even the first 30 min! Maybe these films would be a whole lot more fun when seen on a big screen, with a crowd of friends, and lots of cheering for Nadia.
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Thank you so much for the wishes! I actually read your comment, then have spent the last 15 minutes doing research to find out who are the other important actors and actresses who share this birthday. Saeed Jaffrey and David Bowie, among others – but since their major work lies in the post-70’s, I don’t think I’ll review any of their films.
From what I’ve seen in Baghdad ka Jaadoo, I tend to agree with you re: Fearless Nadia’s films. For this one, at least, the story was so haywire that it took a lot of resolve on my part to sit through it all. Perhaps her early films – stuff like Hunterwaali – were better? Banno saw Diamond Queen and though she said the story there was pretty threadbare too, I believe it was quite entertaining otherwise…
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Could you please tell where I can free download this movie Fearless Nadia – BAGHDAD KA JADU (1956), I would be very grateful and in your dept.
Thank you !!!
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No idea where you can download it. But why don’t you buy it? It’s not very expensive – less than Rs 100. Available at http://www.induna.com; that’s where I bought my copy.
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Thanks a ton !!! I’ll remember this, anytime you need help with screenplay/script writing do ask.
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You’re welcome. And thanks! ;-)
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Happy Birthday Dusted off here’s wishing you many more joyful years ahead, and what a honour to share your birthday with Fearless Nadia i don’t know why but I’m a bit obsessed with films where women kick butt especially Hindi ones, Nadia was the first one i believe to be given these kind of roles, i’ll make it a point to track don one of her films and here’s a lovely Jeetu singalong birthday song for you ;)
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Thank you for that delightful birthday song, Bollywooddeewana! I’m watching it right now while I’m writing this comment. So much fun. :-)
I’d say this film is a must for anyone who likes films where women kick butt. Fearless Nadia is in a class by herself; you don’t see Indian women kick butt this way, never. There is, for instance, a scene where she picks up an attacker by slinging him across her shoulders, then whirls around and throws him off so he lands in a heap. Very Dara Singh-like move!
Unfortunately, her films are very hard to get hold of. I believe only two (both from the 1950’s – Jungle ka Jawahar and Baghdad ka Jaadoo) are commercially available.
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Happy Birthday! Quite a lady Fearless Nadia, I found her stunts( what little I saw of it) quite admirable.. It was also interesting to see Vijaya Chowdhury in one of the screen caps. She must have been quite young then.
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Thank you, Shilpi!
Yes, Vijaya Choudhary is very young in this film. It may even have been her very first film, since imdb lists Diler Daku (from 1957) as her first film – imdb doesn’t list Baghdad ka Jadoo in its database.
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Oh so its yer bud-day and yu share it with many Icons eh DO, that g8 news and may I wish yu a very happee bud-day and many more to come, do save a cake or 2 for us also :)
Interesting write up on Baghdad Ka Jadoo, always been fun to watch all jadoo and tona right from youngistan days and still the same now.
By the way I have,( not seen yet her last movie ?) called
Ek Nanhi Munni Ladki Thi (1970) and one more
Jungle Princess from 1942.
and also
Jungle Ka Jawahar 1953, English title hmm.m…. yaad nahin aa raha !
Cheers :)
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Thank you for the wishes, ash!
The one disappointing thing about Baghdad ka Jaadoo was that the jaadoo-tona was actually pretty non-existent. In comparison to this, Parasmani for instance is choc-a-bloc with magic! Here, there’s only a smidgen of magic, and that’s it.
Is Jungle Princess available commercially? I could only find Baghdad ka Jaadoo and Jungle ka Jawahar when I searched on induna, so wasn’t sure about Jungle Princess, though I’d like to see that – if only to see Fearless Nadia somewhat more in her prime!
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But DO yu did not mention saving a cake or ladoo shadoo for us :):)….
only kiddin’.
Sorry no Jungle Princess not seen in the Stores, this copy is courtsey our lil Group who are crazy phankas of Oldie Goldies and share, I do hope to share this with yu folks sometime . Yeh waada raha, but pls remind me, my daughter visiting us with her lil chap of 3 yrs so we have promised max time with them. Mid March wud be good time if yu folks can wait >).
Secondly Baghdad Ka Jadoo, is it also known as Jungle Ka Jadoo ?
That’s what I think, bcos this is listed in IMDB, if yu have yr print in front of yu pls check if the Director is Nari Ghadiali ? Thx
Cheerio
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Oh, absolutely! The cake is certainly saved up for all readers of this blog. Help yourselves! ;-) [Isn’t that cake looking luscious? Just looking at it makes my mouth water!]
I will hold you to your word re: Jungle Princess, I definitely want to see that one! Will remind you later in the year! Thank you in advance.
No, Baghdad ka Jaadoo isn’t Jungle ka Jaadoo; the other title (which is what’s written on the VCD cover, and which is what appears in the film’s credits too), is Magic of Baghdad. Besides, the director of Baghdad ka Jaadoo is John Cavas.
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Hi all I am edwin cavas I am family member of mr john cavas the actor in this film I thanks all of u in bf of mr john
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Oh, my goodness! I am so happy to meet you – even if only in cyberspace. How are you related to John Cavas? I have also seen another film of his with Fearless Nadia (Jungle Princess) and I thought he looked SO handsome in that!
Thank you for stopping by my blog!
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Happy Birthday DO!!
I sure am looking forward to next year’s surprise sharer of your day with a review of his/her film :).
Amusingly, breezily written review.
>The tent catches fire; the other gypsies race about; the nobleman gets clonked on the head and faints. The gypsy makes off with the baby, for no reason that I can see.
Hahaha! Never had confusion explained so clearly.
I love these thieves/jadoos etc of Baghdad, though as you say the story isn’t all that great.
Have a lovely day, celebrating, enjoying, and watching a film you’ll love!!
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Pacifist, thank you so much! :-) I have had a lovely day so far, and the celebrations are likely to continue into tomorrow, when I’m going out to choose my husband’s present for me… I may buy some classic lobby cards and film stills for my collection (which, I hasten to say, currently consists of just three lobby cards)!
Another jaadoo of Baghdad-style film, which I remember as being quite entertaining, is Ab-e-Hayat. Premnath, Shashikala, and Smriti Biswas, among others. Very good music too.
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Janam din diyan wadhayian, Madhu. May all your wishes come true. BTW, if you have the time drop me a line on vg2@live.com.au
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Veen, thank you! And I’m sending you a mail from my gmail account…
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Wish you many happy returns of the day, Madhu. :-)
Nice review – I especially like this bit
“The gypsy makes off with the baby, for no reason that I can see. All that nappy-changing, those feeds at odd hours, the incessant bawling… this man doesn’t know what he’s letting himself in for.” :-)
Haven’t seen any Nadia movie so far (not one that I can remember anyway, and I am pretty sure I’d remember a movie of hers if I’d seen it).
But I’ve heard a lot about her (Greta’s written about her on her blog too), so I think I would like to watch at least one movie of hers to get the “Fearless Nadia kick-ass experience”. :-)
Thanks for this post though. Enjoyed it.
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Thank you the wishes, Raja – and for the nice things you said about the review. :-)
This was the first Fearless Nadia film I’ve ever seen, though of course I’ve read Greta’s reviews of the couple of films she’s seen. I would really like to watch one of her early films – the superhit films she did in the 1930’s, for instance – to get a better taste of the Fearless Nadia kick-ass experience. I think by the time Baghdad ka Jaadoo was made, Nadia herself was a little too old to be doing interesting things like fighting goons atop trains! (Though to give her her due, she does pull off some stunts even in this film).
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Roy Wadia tells me he is working on getting Nadia’s early films properly subtitled and released. I admire them for not just selling out to the jackasses currently putting Hindi films on vcd/dvd and hopefully it will be worth the wait. I think the later Nadia films, released by Basant, are mostly available (at least sporadically) on dvd and some of her early ones were at some point but seem to have disappeared.
Happy birthday dear friend, and I hope to see a Nadia film with you in person soon :) Hugs.
BTW, the guy who plays the father of the baby (you think he may be Sardar Mansoor) is on my Artist Identification page—I am dying to find out who he is. He was in a lot of those Wadia Arabian Nights films of the 50s and early 60s like Zabak and Char Darvesh. I’ll see if Sardar Mansoor’s name is in the credits for those :)
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Greta, thank you for the greetings, and for the good news that Nadia’s early films may soon be available. Yes, I agree completely that the Wadias deserve commendation for not just selling out to the morons who do most of the DVD/VCD work these days.
Oh, and I did notice the Char Dervesh/Zabak guy in your Artist Identification page, but I thought someone had identified him positively as Habib (which I didn’t agree with, since I also found Habib in one of your artist galleries, and he looks very much like the nasty sultan in Baghdad ka Jaadoo). On the other hand, Sardar Mansoor is in the credits for both Baghdad ka Jaadoo and Char Dervesh. I couldn’t find him in the Zabak credits, though…
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The comments on the AIP page are confusing because when someone is identified to my satisfaction I remove them from the page and into the gallery. Habib was identified a while ago and moved into the gallery (you can see him in the 70s gallery and he is def. correct in there—I need to add him to others earlier :)…if the screencap is still on the page, then the person is still not identified and could be anybody!
Our possible Sardar Mansoor often has just a non-speaking background role and possibly didn’t get credits for his role in Zabak, although the Wadias are better than many about identifying all the bit parts too. At least it’s a name to start with :) Bismillah is the name Ash had thrown out for him, but it is a guess only.
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Non-speaking background roles… I wonder if these actors pooled to the studio like the extras and Dutt’s character at the near end of Kaagaz Ke Phool looking for bit roles for a tiny penance. :(
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Upen bro
fully agree to what yu just said and pls
add.. ‘also for the love and passion’…..for the Cinema
Cheers :)
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I saw your comment about Ash suggesting Bismillah as a possible candidate, so after I noticed this guy in Baghdad ka Jaadoo, I checked the credits very carefully all over again to see if there was a Bismillah there. But no (though, of course, it could’ve been possible that he never got credited, but he does have an important-ish role in the film).
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If Sardar is indeed this actor — he’s the star of 1935 film Hind Kesari! and had major supporting roles in a few other 30s films..
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Not just supporting — he was the male lead in all of them! I hope it’s him!
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I wish somebody could confirm that!
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As much as I would love the henchman with cool turban guy to be Sardar, I don’t think he’s old enough or hero material. I think the King in this movie is possible Sardar Mansoor.
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iv never heard of this film, though fearless nadia sounds familiar. i think her bfilms can help in this cold :) happy brthday madhu.
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Thank you, Sharmi!
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Sorry for this very off topic comment DO, but since this is my *eureka* moment I thought I would post it here.
I have forgotten which thread it was where we were discussing Radheyshyam. I know him as a 50s actor and while I was listening to some Geeta Dutt songs I suddenly happened to find him in this clip at the beginning.
It is from Lajwanti, a 1958 film.
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ummmmmmm Radheyshyam/Radhakishan….so confusing. :-/
At bollysite it says the latter.
At least he’s not Narmada Shankar.
DO please move this comment to the right thread which I have forgotten.
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pacifist, that was the Humraaz post. I’ve copied these two comments there too, but will leave them here because Humraaz is getting too unwieldy, it has so many comments!
Okay, this guy I know of as Radhakrishan/Radhakishan. I remember him in various films, especially Chhoti Bahen. Maybe someday we will find out who he really is!
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Not to butt in or anything, but Radheshyam is in my 60s gallery if you want to have a look :) He is very distinctive looking. He’s not the guy in the clip above. Also Radhakishan is in my 50s gallery and the same guy as your screencap above.
Narbada Shankar is also in my 60s gallery…
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Ah yes. I think my confusion arises from the fact that Shyam and Kishan mean the same.
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Yes, Greta – when this confusion first arose (following my review of Humraaz), I’d consulted your artist gallery to see what Radheshyam looked like. But pacifist was sure she knew who he was – not whom the rest of us seemed to think! Anyway, no big deal. Perhaps we should just be glad that at least we pay attention to character actors too, not just the stars! :-)
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Ladies
pls let me say with 101 per cent that the g8 guy sitting with Dharam Paajee is indeed Radhekishan/Radhekrishan, I can judge him with my eyes closed bcos his voice is extremely special and I have been seeing him in 101 movies from South, Hindi movies esp from Gemini, AVM, banners,
Ta ta
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I was more or less certain that was Radhakrishna. I’ve seen him in other films too.
Thanks for confirming that!
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According to a quiz book (by Rajiv Ranjan), Nalini Jayawant once secretly married to Radha krishna. He was a screenwriter, actor, film producer. He wrote film New Delhi (1956) … and Naliniji second husband Prabhu Dayal had role in it.
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Didn’t know that! Thanks for the trivia, Dee. :-)
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i read some where in newspaper that nalini ji was in touch of ashok kumar till last days. she used to send food to ashok kumar ji house and they did had affair in young days. sharing the link where dad muni is reflecting on his lifehttp://www.rediff.com/movies/2001/dec/10ashok.htm.
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Happy Birthday Dustedoff! I have this movie somewhere, and will see it soon! Im somehow not too impressed with the stuff Ive seen from Nadia so far. I do appreciate the genre she represents very much, but have yet to be as much in awe as most of the blogworld appears to be. Maybe this movie will help!
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Thank you, Shweta!
And one warning: no, don’t think of this as the film that’ll impress you. Fearless Nadia’s stunts are impressive, but that if you remember that this woman’s in her late 40’s. Otherwise the film is boring, the story is very wonky, the SFX are sad, and on the whole it’s an avoidable film.
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Happy birthday, belated, Madhu. What a lovely way to celebrate your birthday, watching a Fearless Nadia film. She looks like she makes a very enchanting Prince. :)
I just love the way she does all her stunts, (and mischief, in this film) with no apologies. That’s worth much more than all the physical courage, given the standard Hindi film heroine characteristics.
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Thank you, Banno! And yes, Fearless Nadia does make a very enchanting prince – and she has a very slick way of fingering the princess’s necklace while pretending to woo her… and I love that frame (I’ve even got a screen cap of it) in which she’s in a large urn-like basket, and is wagging her fingers beside her ears and making faces at the soldiers who’re chasing her. Cheeky! I love that. :-)
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Ok DO
the wait is over, here is the Jungle Princess 1942 movie for you and the ‘phankas’ of yr Blog, I have ripped the VCD to a XVID/DIVX format and the 2 parts can be found under-
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R96OVQ8W
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CGAQKLZG
Producer: Homi Wadia
Director: Homi Wadia
Music Director: Madhavlal D. Master
Songs –
01-chal-ri-nav-tu
02-jo-koi-isako-pive
03-musafir-kis-marga-se
04-dance-music
05-murakh-man-tu-kyon
06-o-maina-mastani
07-agar-insan-men
08-qasam-jawani-ki
PROFILE- Fearless Nadia, (1910-1997) Indian Stunt Actress
One of Indian Cinema’s Greatest Heroines, was a Strapping and Brazen British Girl. Who was famous for Beating Up baddies to a pulp .
The legendary Nadia was Indian cinema`s earliest and most popular stunt actress. She performed all her stunts on her own, thereby earning the moniker “Fearless” Nadia. This quality of hers made her an exceptional name in the film industry, not only among actresses, but actors too, who refused to do those dangerous stunts.
Nadia was born as Mary Evans to Greek-Welsh parents in Australia. She started her career as a circus artiste and was an expert at performing all sorts of strange activities. Nadia then joined a ballet company to polish her capabilities even more and made her screen debut as a chorus girl in Wadia Movietone`s Lal-e Yaman.
Nadia`s first lead role was in the film Hunterwali that was directed by her husband Homi Wadia. Nadia had a slightly accented Hindi tone and she was the blue-eyed blonde, who won instant stardom with her portrayal of the masked, whip-swishing Princess Madhuri. The film Hunterwali also proved to be Wadia Movietones first major triumph.
Nadia followed forth with her career by the famous “train” film after Hunterwali; titled Miss Frontier Mail. This film was a crime thriller and it highlighted a spectacular fight sequence atop a moving train. Nadia was immensely successful in her career and enjoyed her work, because of the thrill and excitement in her every shot. Her other hits included Lutaru Lalna, Hurricane Hansa, and Diamond Queen. Nadia was uniformly presented in all these films and the ultimate successful hit in this actress`s career was the film – Punjab Ka Beta.
Majority of Nadia`s hits featured her daredevil nature and people particularly went to enjoy this gooseflesh, while the actress was seen swinging from chandeliers, leaping from buildings and wrestling on moving carriages among her co-stars. However, none of her stunts in her career could be compared with the one fight over the coaches of a moving train. Nadia continued to do films all through the 1950s. The Indian film industry lost one of its fabulous actresses in 1996. In 1993, three years before Nadia`s death, Riyad Vinci Wadia made a documentary film on the life of Nadia and titled the film as Fearless: The Hunterwali Story.
She and Homi had fallen in love by the 1940?s but didn?t officially marry until 1961. She appeared in her last film Ek Nanhi Munni Ladki Thi 1970 in 1968. She spent her years in retirement happily raising Thoroughbred horses, including an Indian Derby winner. She died in 1995 at the age of 87.
Above info n movie Courtesy Trini bro, possible it was Greta also for the write up???, Greets to both anyway !!
Enjoii and any probs d/l let me know.:)
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Ash, you are so, so generous! Thank you very much :-) I’ve already begun downloading, will let you know if I have any problems. God bless you.
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Wow, you share your birthday with Fearless Nadia!
WOW!
This is the first Fearless Nadia film review I’m reading!
I surely hope that her films come up on DVD or VCD!
I’m just longing to see them!
ROTFL at:
“The gypsy makes off with the baby, for no reason that I can see. All that nappy-changing, those feeds at odd hours, the incessant bawling… this man doesn’t know what he’s letting himself in for.”
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Thank you! :-)
I have to admit that Baghdad ka Jaadoo wasn’t great as an introduction to Fearless Nadia. I mean, she’s feisty and all that – plus she’s really quite a stuntwoman – but the story of this film is pretty silly. And silly in an incoherent way. I’ve since also seen her earlier film (1942), Jungle Princess, which is much better.
BY the way, you might want to check out Greta’s blog for more Fearless Nadia films – I remember she’s reviewed at least one, maybe more.
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it seems vijaya chowdhary has small role in it. i have soft corner for chand usmani, vijaya and ameeta. wish they would have been more successful. on the review of old films and me. i watched banarsi thug . my expectations were low even if review was good cause of manoj kumar. but i did like the movie and vijaya was fine. her face reminds me of nalini jaywant ji. movie reminded me of chori chori .
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where can i get hunterwali movie online
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I don’t think it’s available online. Or even released digitally.
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