Mira NairBirth Place: Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India Date of Birth: October 15, 1957 Heritage: Indian Famous for: Director of Oscar-nominated film 'Salaam Bombay!' Contact Mira Nair | 
|
|
Salaam Bombay Background: “I was seen as an outsider in the beginning and then an object of great envy. All the national directors wanted to be international. They would come up to me and say, ‘If I cast Michael Caine and Sean Connery, do you think this will make it?’ There was this fascination with the international that was totally wrong-headed.” Mira Nair Indian born director and producer Mira Nair began her career as a stage actor in her native country prior to moving to the U.S. as a teenager. She later achieved international fame as the director of “Salaam Bombay” (1988), which earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Foreign Language Film. A first of a series of collaborations with screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala, the film also brought Nair two Cannes Film Festival Awards, three Montréal World Film Festival Awards, a BAFTA nomination and a César nomination, to mention a few. After the auspicious debut, she enjoyed further recognition with “Mississippi Masala” (1991), “Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love” (1996), “Monsoon Wedding” (2001), “Vanity Fair” (2004) and “The Namesake” (2006). She won her second BAFTA nomination and the Golden Lion for “Monsoon Wedding,” making her the second Indian to win the Venice Film Festival's prestigious honor. She also earned Golden Lion nominations for “Mississippi Masala” and “Vanity Fair” and an Independent Spirit nomination for “Mississippi Masala.” On the small screen, Nair directed the TV films “My Own Country” (Showtime, 1998; also a producer) and “Hysterical Blindness” (HBO, 2002). The Harvard educated filmmaker first gained notice for helming documentaries that explore diverse aspects of Indian society, including “India Cabaret” (1985), which won some festival awards for best documentary. Nair currently lives in New York City with her professor husband Mahmood Mamdani and they have a son named Zohran.
Childhood and Family: “I grew up in a very small town which is remote even by Indian standards. I always dreamed of the world.” Mira Nair Mira Nair was born on October 15, 1957, in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India, to a Punjabi Family. Her father was a civil servant and her mother was a social worker. The youngest of three, she and her two older siblings grew up in a middle class household. Mira was educated at a boarding school called Loreto Convent Tara Hall in Shimla Himachal Pradesh. She went on to major in sociology at Miranda House at Delhi University and performed with a politic street theater group until at age 19, she won a scholarship to Harvard University. She received a degree in sociology from Harvard in 1976 and completed a master's degree in film three years later. Mira is married to Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University in New York City, where she also serves as an assistant professor in the film division of the School of Arts. They first met in 1988 when she visited Uganda for the first time for film research. She and her Uganda husband share a son named Zohran Mamdani (born in October 1991). Mira was married once before to a man named Mitch Epstein.
Career: Mira Nair developed a love for documentary films while attending Harvard and had her first taste of directing when she made a student thesis film titled “Jama Masjid Street Journal” (1979). She then directed the notable documentaries “So Far from India” (1983), “India Cabaret” (1985) and "Children of a Desired Sex” (1987). “India Cabaret,” a controversial portrait of strippers in a Bombay nightclub, brought Nair a 1985 Global Village Film Festival for Best Documentary Film, a Blue Ribbon at the 1986 American Film Festival and a Golden Athena at the 1986 Athens International Film Festival. Nair made her feature directing debut in 1988 when she helmed “Salaam Bombay,” drama that chronicled the daily life of children living on the streets of Bombay. Scripted by Sooni Taraporevala and based on a story by Nair and Taraporevala, the film, which she also co-produced, won various awards and nominations upon its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 13, 1988. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (India) and a Golden Globe in the same category. Nair took home an Audience Award and a Golden Camera at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, a Lilian Gish Award for Excellence in Feature Film at the 1988 Los Angeles Women in Film Festival, a Jury Prize, Most Popular Film, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1988 Montréal World Film Festival, to list a few, for her effort. The success of “Salaam Bombay” brought Nair international prominence. Most of the young actors who appeared in “Salaam Bombay” were actual street children who received dramatic training at a special workshop in Bombay before they acted in the film. Therefore, in 1989, Nair decided to begin an organization called the Salaam Baalak Trust in order to help children. Back to the director's chair, Nair helmed Denzel Washington, Roshan Seth and Sarita Choudhury in “Mississippi Masala,” which explored interracial relationships between African Americans and Indian Americans. A reunion with screenwriter Taraporevala, the film premiered in France on September 18, 1991, before being released in the U.K. and U.S. on January 17 and February 5, 1992, respectively. It earned Nair a Golden Osella Award and a Golden Lion nomination at the 1991 Venice Film Festival, a Critics Special Award at the 1991 São Paulo International Film Festival, a Silver Ribbon for Best Director - Foreign Film (Regista del Miglior Film Straniero) from the 1992 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, and a 1993 Independent Spirit nomination for Best Picture. “Mississippi Masala” was produced by Nair in association with the American film company Studio Canal Souss (SCS). In 1993, Nair directed a 10 minute drama called “The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat,” whose story was inspired by the assassination of South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani. It was made as a part of the television series 'The Human Family.” Two years later, she directed Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina, Anjelica Huston and Chazz Palminteri in the American comedy “The Perez Family” (1995). The movie was adapted from Christine Bell's novel of the same name by screenwriter Robin Swicord. Nair returned to her Indian roots to direct the controversial “Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love” (1996, released in the U.S. on February 28, 1997), a historical epic set in 16th century India. Starring Sarita Choudhury and Naveen Andrews, the film was nominated for a Golden Seashell at the 1996 San Sebastian International Film Festival (Nair) and won a 1998 Independent Spirit for Best Cinematography (Declan Quinn). Nair also co-wrote the script with Helena Kriel and served as a producer. In 1998, Nair directed and produced a television film for Showtime called “My Own Country,” scripted by Jim Leonard and longtime collaborator Sooni Taraporevala and based on Abraham Verghese's memoir “My Own Country, A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS.” Starring Naveen Andrews as Dr. Abraham Verghese, the film was nominated for a GLAAD Media for Outstanding TV Movie or TV Mini-Series and a Rosebud for Best Film at the 1999 Verzaubert - International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Nair also appeared in the film as Saryu Joshi. The following year, she directed the documentary film “The Laughing Club of India” (1999), which won Nair a Special Mention for Documentary and Essay at the 2000 Biarritz International Festival of Audiovisual Programming. Nair resurfaced in the new millennium with “Monsoon Wedding” (2001), which was about a disorderly Punjabi Indian wedding. Written by Sabrina Dhawan and co-produced by Nair, the movie grossed nearly $30 million at the box office and won the prestigious Golden Lion and the Laterna Magica Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Nair became the second Indian to receive the honor after Satyajit Ray for “Aparajito” (1956). “Monsoon Wedding” was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and a BAFTA for Best Film not in the English Language, and won a British Independent Film Award in the category of Best Foreign Film - Foreign Language, among other honors. Nair added an Audience Award from the 2001 Canberra Short Film Festival, a Chlotrudis nomination for Best Director, a European Film nomination for the Screen International Award, and Zee Cine's Popular Award, Special Award for International Cinema to her resume. Also in 2001, Nair portrayed the supporting role of Mira in the Indian film “Bollywood Calling,” for director Nagesh Kukunoor. The next year, Nair directed Uma Thurman, Gena Rowlands, Juliette Lewis and Ben Gazzara in “Hysterical Blindness” (2002), a television film for HBO. She picked up a Golden Star nomination from the 2003 Marrakech International Film Festival for the film. Under her direction, Thurman won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television and Rowlands and Gazzara nabbed Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, respectively. She also directed the segment “India” for “11'09”01 - September 11” (2002), an international film composed of 11 contributions from renowned filmmakers from various countries. The film won the UNESCO Award at the 2002 Venice Film Festival. After producing the documentary film “Still, the Children Are Here” (2004), Nair directed Reese Witherspoon, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, James Purefoy, Gabriel Byrne, Eileen Atkins, Bob Hoskins, Romola Garai and Jim Broadbent in the costume drama feature “Vanity Fair” (2004), based on the novel of the same name by William Thackeray. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a flop at the box office. Despite the disappointment, the film brought Nair a Golden Lion nomination at the 2004 Venice Film Festival. She next produced and directed the feature adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's best selling “The Namesake” (2006), which was written for the screen by Taraporevala. The critical response to the film was generally positive and it grossed over $20 million at the U.S. box office. Nair was handed a Golden Aphrodite from the 2006 Love is Folly International Film Festival, Bulgaria, and a 2007 Gotham nomination for Best Film for her work on the film. 2007 saw Nair serve as the executive producer on the short films “Prarambh,” “Positive,” “Blood Brothers” and “Migration” (also a director). She next joined filmmakers Abderrahmane Sissako, Gael Garcia Bernal, Gus Van Sant, Jan Kounen, Gaspar Noé, Jane Campion and Wim Wenders to contribute to “8” (2008), a series of eight shorts films centered around eight themes of social importance. Nair directed and produced the segment “How can it be?” In 2009, she directed segment 2 (starred Natalie Portman as Rifka Malone and Irrfan Khan as Mansuhkhbai) of the anthology romance film “New York, I Love You.” The film was nominated for a Golden Trailer in the category of Best Film Festival Trailer. The same year, she also directed the biographical film “Amelia” (2009), based on the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart. Starring Hillary Swank, the film received primarily negative reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box office. The film also starred Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston. “I am an independent filmmaker first and foremost. I have always cut my own cloth.” Mira Nair
|
|
|
