In 1935, a young blonde girl made her first appearance on the indian screen riding like the devil, swinging on chandeliers, sporting a mask and tight-fitting shorts and brandishing a whip, she drove audiences into raptures the film was hunterwali, the girl ‘fearless’ nadia for more than a decade after that she remained one of the top indian film stars as she wielded revolvers, ran along the roofs of rushing trains, beat up men and played with lions the fearless nadia films, a shimmering mixture of action, eroticism and progressive ideas, were unlike anything indian audiences had seen so far coming at a time when india was struggling for independence, these films also carried subtle nationalist propaganda as fearless nadia, the daughter of a british soldier, became the cult cinematic symbol of the indian freedom struggle