Bollywood’s most iconic vamp started working at 10, family couldn’t afford food; blamed Raj Kapoor’s film for ruining career, intimidated Jaya Bachchan

Nadira’s lineage and Bollywood beginnings

Nadira was born into a Baghdadi Jewish family on December 5, 1932, as Florence Ezekiel in Baghdad, Iraq. She was an infant when her family moved to Mumbai (then Bombay) in search of business opportunities. Nadira started her career with the 1943 film Mauj as a child artist. She was only 10 or 11 years old at the time.

Her big break came when filmmaker Mehboob Khan’s wife, Sardar Akhtar, discovered her and offered her the role of a Rajput princess in Dilip Kumar-starrer Aan (1952). This was a strong debut for Nadira, who got to act alongside Dilip Kumar in a film by Mehboob Khan, who would years later be celebrated for directing Mother India.

Nadira recalls buying food and furniture with her first earnings

Coming from an immigrant family, Nadira had seen tough times growing up, but Aan changed that for her and her family. In an old interview, she recalled, “I started Aan with Rs 1200 a month in 1949, which increased to Rs 2500 in the second year and Rs. 3000 in the third year. When I got my first three-monthly instalment of Rs 3600, I didn’t know what to do with it! That day I asked Mehboobji if I could be dropped home in his car be­cause I was afraid to carry so much money!”

Nadira shared that after seeing the money, her mother thought she had stolen it. She later used it to buy food and other necessary items for her house. “When my mother saw it, she asked if I had stolen it! I remember going out immediately and buying furniture — which still occupies my bedroom — and a full gold-set com­plete with 12 gold bangles. Thereafter, every night I’d count the bangles and cover them with a handkerchief before sleeping. I would count them again in the morn­ing! We’d bought such a lot of food that day, since we had not eaten well in a long time. Ultimately we had to give away half of it to the neighbours,” she said in an old interview in 1999.

Despite her good debut, Nadira did not land many lead role offers and was cast in supporting parts. However, one call from Raj Kapoor changed the trajectory of her career — though not necessarily in the way she had hoped.

Nadira blamed Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420 for destroying her career

Turning point in Raj Kapoor’s Shri 420

Though Nadira desperately wanted to achieve heroine status and bag lead roles, when Raj Kapoor asked her to play a negative role in Shri 420, she readily agreed. Like any young girl at that time, she had dreamt of working with Kapoor, and when the opportunity came, she could not refuse. What worked in her favour was that her character of Maya was substantial and remembered for years to come.

However, Nadira later called it the ‘Waterloo’ of her career as she became typecast in similar roles. She said in the interview, “I took up Shree 420 for a lark but it became my Waterloo. I took up the role as a challenge, to prove my versatility, and it ruined my career.”

Producers typecast her

After Shri 420, Nadira tried to pursue positive roles and is said to have rejected around 200 films because filmmakers only offered her vamp roles. But after a point, she had no choice but to accept what came her way. She recalled, “After Shree 420, I starved for a year and a half because everybody wanted me to wear the same black fitting dress and hold the cigarette the same way.”

Jaya Bachchan was intimidated by Nadira.

Jaya Bachchan found Nadira ‘intimidating’

Though unwilling at first, Nadira went on to make her negative roles iconic. Even Jaya Bachchan once praised her openly. The two starred together in Ek Nazar (1972), in which Nadira played the role of an intimidating madame of a brothel. Jaya described Nadira as “a scene-chewing marvel” and admitted how intimidating it was to work with her in the film.

She said in an old interview with Subhash K Jha, “She played a tyrant in Ek Nazar. As we shot, I remember becoming actually intimidated by her. Nadiraji was a very powerful actress with an imposing screen presence. She couldn’t play the frail chuimui kind of girl that audiences liked to see.”

Nadira became first Indian actor to own a Rolls Royce

Nadira acted in around 73 films during her career. Known for her larger-than-life personality, she lived lavishly, loved her expensive alcohol, and was fond of cars. She also became India’s first actor to own a luxury Rolls Royce.

Nadira lived alone, never married

Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Josh (2000) was Nadira’s last onscreen performance. After stepping away from the limelight, Nadira initially lived with her family in Mumbai, but she never married. Later, when her family moved overseas, she continued to live alone in a Mumbai flat with only her house help.

In the interview, she admitted to suffering from insomnia. When asked if she had any regrets, she said, “Not really. I’m extremely grateful to God for every­thing he has given me. At times I cry because I am very lonely but then I guess you can’t get everything in life. I suffer from insomnia so I have more hours to kill than other people. Since there is no-one to really talk to me, I listen to music, knit and read to pass my time, when I’m not working. The only thing I ask God is to keep me fit enough to work, till I’m alive. I don’t ever want to be dependent on anyone in my life!”

During her last days, Nadira suffered from multiple health conditions, including tubercular meningitis, alcoholic liver disorder, and paralysis. After a prolonged illness, she passed away in 2006 at the age of 73.