Actor Mukesh Khanna has been in the news of late for his comments on the planned film adaptation of his iconic superhero Shaktimaan. The actor's comments have brought back focus on the popular superhero, whom many regard as the first superhero on the Indian screen. Not many know that Shaktimaan was late to it by a few decades, let alone years. While Krrish and Shaktimaan may be the flavour of the season, India's first superhero appeared on screen way back in 1935. And it was played by a woman! 

India's first on-screen superhero

Even before Batman and Superman were created or Marvel Comics was set up, Indian cinema had produced a superhero film. The year was 1935, and Homi Wadia of Bombay's Wadia Movietone was coming up with a swashbuckler, which was seen as the answer to Hollywood's Mask of Zorro. The film was Hunterwali, an action flick about a princess who moonlights as a masked vigilante to fight crime. The lead star was Nadia, billed on the posters as Fearless Nadia, an Australian stuntwoman who had grown up in India.

Nadia performed all her stunts in the film, including horseriding, whip use, and even some of the heavy-duty fight scenes. The movie was released to great fanfare and was a smash hit, transforming Nadia into Indian cinema's "earliest and most popular stunt actress."

How Hunterwali started a franchise

Hunterwali's success meant that Nadia was the talk of the town. She was cast in several other stunt films in the 1930s, playing masked vigilantes in many of them. Her successes include Miss Frontier Mail (1936), Diamon Queen (1940), and Jungle Princess (1942). In 1943, she reprised her role as Princess Madhuri in Indian cinema's first-ever sequel – Hunterwali Ki Beti. This, too, was a roaring success.

Nadia continued to act in stunt films for a few more years, after which she moved to character roles in a handful of films. Her final screen appearance was in the 1968 release, Khiladi. Indian cinema did not see many superhero films until the 1980s, when Amitabh Bachchan attempted to revive the genre with Toofan and Ajooba, albeit unsuccessfully. Only after the success of Shaktimaan on TV and Krrish in films did the genre gain some legitimacy among Indian audiences.

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