Mira Nair is one of the greatest Indian filmmakers and has upheld the Indian culture as an integral part of world cinema. Her films have fetched many international awards and they continue to do so.
Her famous films include Salaam Bombay!, Monsoon Wedding, Amelia, Vanity Fair, The Namesake and Mississippi Masala. It is because of her splendid filmmaking that Mira Nair has become one of the most popular personalities.
She recently directed ‘A Suitable Boy’ starring Tabu, Ishan Khatter which is an adaption of Vikram Seth’s novel by the same name. The series which released on BBC network is now set to release on Netflix.
Today on Mira Nair’s birthday, here are some facts to know about the Indian filmmaker
- She was born in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. She studied sociology and theatre at Delhi University and got a graduate degree in sociology from Harvard University
- She started her career as a theatre actor in New Delhi while she was studying at the university
- For her thesis at Harvard, she made a documentary titled Jama Masjid Street Journal, which is considered as one of the greatest documentaries made on Muslim traditions
- Through her films, Nair has harped on the gender issues that plague Indian society. Children of a Desired Sex is one of her films that show how the patriarchal society yearns for a male child and the burden it puts on the unborn female child
- Her debut feature film Salaam Bombay! was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988. The film also won the Camera D’Or (for best first feature) and the Prix du Publique (for most popular entry) at the Cannes Film Festival and 25 other international awards
- She has worked with famous Hollywood stars such as Denzel Washington in her film Mississippi Masala and Hillary Swank in Amelia
- The plot of her famous film My Own Country was inspired by Dr Abraham Vaghese’s best-selling namesake memoir
- One of Nair’s most popular movies Monsoon Wedding was shot within just 30 days
- Nair has also directed an HBO original movie titled Hysterical Blindness. The film starred Uma Thurman, Juliette Lewis, Gena Rowlands. It became HBO’s most critically acclaimed and highest ratings with 15 million viewers. The film also fetched a Golden Globe for Uma Thurman and 3 Emmy Awards
- Her production house Mirabai Films has set up an annual film laboratory named Maisha, which will support the upcoming directors and artists from East Africa and India. The first Maisha Film Lab has come up in Kampala, Uganda.
