Advertisement

Help
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Movies » Photos
Search:  Rediff.com The Web

A still from Pramila's home production Silver Film's Bade Nawab Saab,
opposite actor Chandramohan
  Email this Page  |   Write to us

Next

Meet Pramila, the first Miss India

August 28, 2006
The saga of independent India's first-ever beauty queen came to a close on August 6, when Esther Abraham, screen name Pramila, faded into an eternal dissolve.

A born rebel, she walked out of her conservative Baghdadi Jewish home in Kolkata at 17 to join a theatre company. She went on to realise her real dream and blazed across the Indian screen as a vamp and a fearless stunt star in 30 films, including Ulti Ganga, Bijli, Basant and Jungle King. She became the first major woman film producer, with 16 films under her Silver Productions banner.

D M Madhok wrote Choli Ke Andar lyrics for her years before Madhuri Dixit was born and then Bombay chief minister Morarji Desai had her wrongly arrested as a Pakistani spy because of her visits to that country to distribute films.

Text: Sanjay Pendse
Next

© 2006 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.Disclaimer | Feedback