#GoldenFrames: Nadira, the original Bollywood vamp

Farhat Ezekiel Nadira, known professionally as Nadira, worked in 250 movies in her lifetime. She is still remembered for her song, "Mud mud ke na dekh, mud mud ke...." in the movie 'Shree 420.' She was among the highest-paid actresses during her career, and was one of the first Indian actresses to own a Rolls-Royce.

In This Pic : Nadira

Born into a staunch Jewish family, Farhat Ezekiel Nadira went to St Anthony’s Convent and planned to become a doctor. But she could not study further as her mother had to leave her job with the Royal Air Force unit after India became free and couldn’t afford to pay her fees. Her parents had already divorced when she was four, and her maternal grandparents brought her and her brother up. Her mother remarried and had another son. But the second husband threw her out, taking away her baby, and left her to fend for herself. Eventually, Nadira and her brother went back to her.

In This Pic : Nadira

Nadira had never been photographed before and had seen barely two movies in her life—'Laila Majnu' and 'Mirza Sahiba'. It was perhaps destiny that Mrs Mehboob Khan spotted seventeen-year-old Nadira and got her signed for 'Aan' (1952). Nargis, the original choice for the role, could not do the movie because of date problems. Mrs Mehboob Khan groomed her for stardom.

In This Pic : Nadira

'Aan' (1952) had Mehboob Khan as the director and stalwarts like Dilip Kumar, Prem Nath and Nimmi in the star cast. According to the directions, Nadira had to glare at people to exhibit arrogance. Throughout the movie, she raises her eyebrows and glares. Sometimes she feared that her eyeballs would pop out.

In This Pic : Nadira

Dilip Kumar, who was her co-star in 'Aan' (1952), once told her: "You are the most despicable character I have ever met!" Nadira did not know the meaning of the word "despicable" and smiled, thinking he was paying her a compliment. Later, at home, she looked up the word in the dictionary and came to know what he had meant. Since then, they have never talked to each other. Years later, whenever Dilip Saab patted her on the back and cracked jokes, she never really forgot the word "despicable".

(Nadira and Dilip Kumar in Aan, 1952)

In This Pic : Nadira, Dilip Kumar