Nadira was a prominent Indian actress, best remembered for her supporting roles in Bollywood flicks. She was born on 5th December 5 1932 as Florence Ezekiel Nadira to a Baghdadi Jewish family. She had portrayed diverse roles in films and her performances in many movies have been lauded by the critics as well as viewers. Nadira was popular and was admired in western attire, for which she portrayed a Christian or Anglo-Indian lady in many of her memorable movies. However her film Aan alongside Dilip Kumar was a notable exception in which she appeared as a Rajput princess.

Career of Nadira
Nadira made her cinematic debut as an actress in the Hindi film industry with the movie Aan in the year 1952. She got introduced to Bollywood by Sardar Begum who was the wife of Indian film director Mehboob Khan. In the movie Aan she essayed the role of a Rajput princess, gaining prominence in the very initial phase of her career. In the year 1955, she appeared in Shree 420 as a rich socialite named Maya. Subsequently she went on to play lead roles in some Bollywood flicks. Her performances in the films like Pakeezah, Amar Akbar Anthony, Hanste Zakhm and Dil Apna Prit Parayee were appreciated by the critics.

Nadira was more popular as a supporting actress and was often cast in the roles of a vamp or temptress opposite to chaste heroines which was the favoured portrayal of leading ladies in Bollywood back then. Some of the popular films of Nadira include Kala Bazar, Sapnon Ka Saudagar, Talash, Raja Jani, Julie, Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka, Chaal Baaz and many more. A new phase of her film career arrived in 1980s and 1990s when she began taking up the roles of elderly women as a supporting actress. She last appeared in the 2000 Bollywood film Josh. Nadira was among the highly paid actresses of her time and was also known to be one of the first Indian actresses to own a Rolls-Royce.

Achievements of Nadira
Nadira received Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1975 film Julie in which she played the role of Julie"s mother Margaret, `Maggie`.

Personal Life of Nadira
Nadira had married twice. Firstly she was married to Naqshab, an Urdu-language poet and filmmaker. She later married a man whom she publicly addressed as a gold-digger. Her second marriage lasted only for a week. In the latter part of her life she lived in Mumbai alone in her condominium only with a housekeeper as several of her relatives had shifted to Israel.

Death of Nadira
Nadira died on 9th February 2006 at the age of 73 owing to a prolonged illness at the Bhatia Hospital in Tardeo, Mumbai.

Filmography of Nadira