Mira Nair
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Mira Nair. Born October 15, 1957. An Indian American filmmaker, celebrated for her independent dramas crafted through her company, Mirabai Films. Her distinctive vision has garnered two prestigious awards from the Cannes Film Festival, four from the Venice Film Festival, and nominations for two BAFTA Awards and two César Awards. Her cinematic achievements have also earned two Academy Award nominations.
Nair burst onto the feature film scene with the critically acclaimed drama *Salaam Bombay!* in 1988, a film that garnered nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best International Feature Film. She followed this with the romantic drama *Mississippi Masala* in 1991, earning a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film. In 2001, she directed the comedy-drama *Monsoon Wedding*, a triumph that won the Golden Lion at the 58th Venice International Film Festival and secured nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best International Feature Film.
Mira Nair was born on October 15, 1957, in Rourkela, Orissa, India, the youngest of three children. Her father, Amrit Lal Nair, was an officer in the Indian Administrative Service, and her mother, Praveen Nair, a social worker. Her family, of Punjabi origin with roots in Delhi, is Hindu.
Nair's early education began at Ispat English Medium School in Rourkela. Later, her family moved to Bhubaneswar, where she attended Loreto Convent, Tara Hall, in Shimla, developing a profound appreciation for English literature. She pursued sociology at Miranda House, a women's college at Delhi University. It was during her university years that she immersed herself in political street theatre and an amateur drama company in Delhi, collaborating with Indian theatre director Barry John and American dramatist Joseph Chaikin.
Rejecting a full scholarship to Cambridge University, Nair moved to the United States at nineteen to attend Harvard University on a scholarship. She majored in Visual and Environmental Studies, focusing on documentary filmmaking, and graduated in 1979.
Before her directorial career, Nair harbored an interest in acting. While at Harvard, she actively participated in the theatre program, even winning a Boylston Prize for her performance of Jocasta's speech from Seneca's *Oedipus*.
In a 2004 interview with FF2 Media, Nair articulated her approach to filmmaking: "It’s all in how I do it. Keeping the bums on the seats is very important to me. It requires that ineffable thing called rhythm and balance in movie-making. Foils have to be created, counter-weights. From the intimacy, let’s say, of a love scene to the visceral, jugular quality of war. That shift is something in the editing, how one cuts from the intimate to the epic that keeps you there waiting. The energy propels you."
Speaking with Image Journal in 2017, Nair explained her preference for directing: "That's why I am neither a photographer nor writer, I like to work with people, and my strength, if any, is that. Working with life."
At the outset of her filmmaking journey, Nair focused on documentaries, exploring Indian cultural traditions. Her Harvard thesis film, *Jama Masjid Street Journal* (1978-1979), offered an intimate glimpse into the streets of Old Delhi through conversations with locals. Her 1982 documentary, *So Far from India*, followed an Indian newspaper dealer in New York City, a film recognized with Best Documentary awards at the American Film Festival and the Global Village Film Festival.
Her third documentary, *India Cabaret* (1985), shot with cinematography by her then-husband Mitch Epstein, opened the inaugural Indian International Film Festival. The film, which portrayed the exploitation of female strippers in Bombay, faced criticism from Nair's family. Her fourth and final documentary, made for Canadian television, examined the use of amniocentesis for sex determination of fetuses. In 2001, *The Laughing Club of India* explored laughter-based yoga, featuring testimonials from members whose lives had been transformed by the practice.
In June 1987, Nair and her friend Sooni Taraporevala researched and co-wrote *Salaam Bombay!* Nair's dedication to authenticity led her to cast real street children, capturing their struggles and the deprivation of their childhoods. Despite a modest box office performance, the film garnered 23 international awards, including the Caméra d'Or and Prix du public at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, and received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1989 Academy Awards.
Nair and Taraporevala collaborated again on *Mississippi Masala* (1991), a story about Ugandan-born Indians displaced in Mississippi. The film, which explored prejudice within Black and Indian communities, was met with critical acclaim and received a standing ovation at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival, along with three awards at the Venice Film Festival.
Following four other films, Nair produced *Monsoon Wedding* in 2001. This film, detailing an Indian Punjabi wedding and written by Sabrina Dhawan, achieved global success, grossing over $30 million. It earned Nair the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, making her the first female recipient. She then directed the Golden Globe-winning *Hysterical Blindness* (2002) and adapted William Makepeace Thackeray's *Vanity Fair* in 2004.
In 2007, Nair declined the opportunity to direct *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, choosing instead to work on *The Namesake*, reportedly at her son Zohran's urging. Based on Jhumpa Lahiri's novel, the film followed the son of Indian immigrants navigating his identity in New York City. The film received the Dartmouth Film Award and the Pride of India award at the Bollywood Movie Awards. Her next directorial venture was the Amelia Earhart biopic *Amelia* (2009), starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere, which received largely negative reviews and underperformed at the box office.
In 2012, Nair directed *The Reluctant Fundamentalist*, a thriller based on Mohsin Hamid's novel. While receiving mixed reviews, it also struggled at the box office. The film premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival to critical acclaim.
Nair's 2016 film, *Queen of Katwe*, a Walt Disney Pictures production, starred Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo and told the inspiring story of Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi.
Nair's short filmography includes *A Fork, a Spoon and a Knight*, inspired by a Nelson Mandela quote. She also contributed to the anthology film *11'09"01 September 11* (2002), a collection of reactions to the events of 9/11. Other notable shorts include *How Can It Be?* (2008), *Migration* (2008), *New York, I Love You* (2009), and her collaboration on *Words with Gods*.
A dedicated activist, Nair established the Maisha Film Lab in Kampala, Uganda, a nonprofit facility that has trained young directors in East Africa since 2005 with the motto, "If we don't tell our stories, no one else will." In 1998, she used profits from *Salaam Bombay!* to create the Salaam Baalak Trust, supporting street children in India. A musical adaptation of *Monsoon Wedding*, directed by Nair, premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2017. As of 2015, she was an adjunct professor in the Film Division of Columbia University's School of Arts.
In July 2020, it was announced that Nair would adapt Ellen Barry's Pulitzer Prize-nominated story "The Jungle Prince of Delhi" into a web series for Amazon Studios. In March 2021, it was revealed that Nair would direct a ten-episode reimagining of the *National Treasure* series for Disney+.
Nair met her first husband, photographer Mitch Epstein, in 1977 at Harvard University. They married in 1981 and divorced before 1991. Her second husband, Indo-Ugandan political scientist Mahmood Mamdani, met Nair in 1989 while she was in Uganda researching *Mississippi Masala*. They married in 1991, and their son, Zohran Mamdani, was born in Kampala, Uganda, that same year. Zohran Mamdani has since become a New York State Assembly member.
Nair is a devoted yoga practitioner, often incorporating yoga sessions for cast and crew at the start of filming days.
In July 2013, Nair declined an invitation to the Haifa International Film Festival as a protest against Israel's policies toward Palestine, expressing her stance on Twitter and garnering praise from PACBI.
Her filmography includes acclaimed feature films such as *Salaam Bombay!*, *Mississippi Masala*, *Monsoon Wedding*, *The Namesake*, and *Queen of Katwe*. Her short films and documentaries have also garnered significant attention.
In 2012, Nair was honored with India's third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan. Her numerous awards include the Audience Award and Golden Camera at the Cannes Film Festival for *Salaam Bombay!*, the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for *Monsoon Wedding*, and the Golden Osella for Best Original Screenplay for *Mississippi Masala*. She has also received nominations for Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, and Golden Globe Awards.
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Mira Nair (IAST: Mīrā Nāyar; born October 15, 1957) is an Indian American filmmaker. She is known for directing independent dramas through her production company Mirabai Films. She has received two prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and four prizes from the Venice Film Festival as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards and two César Awards. Her films have also received two Academy Award nominations.
Nair made her feature film debut directing the drama film Salaam Bombay! (1988) which received nominations for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best International Feature Film. She then directed the romantic drama Mississippi Masala (1991) for which she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film. She directed the comedy-drama Monsoon Wedding (2001) winning the Golden Lion at the 58th Venice International Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best International Feature Film.
== Early life and education ==
Mira Nair was born on October 15, 1957, in Rourkela, Orissa (now Odisha), India, the youngest of three children, and the only girl. Her father, Amrit Lal Nair, was an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, and her mother, Praveen Nair, was a social worker. Her family is of Punjabi origin with roots in Delhi, and are Hindu. The family name "Nayyar" (not to be confused with the Malayali "Nair") was changed by her grandfather, although one of her uncles continues to use it.
Nair first attended Ispat English Medium School in Rourkela, from ages 7 to 10, between 1964 and 1967. Her family then moved to Bhubaneswar, where she lived until age 18. She attended an English-medium high school at Loreto Convent, Tara Hall in Kaithu, Shimla, where she developed a fondness for English literature. She studied at Miranda House—a college for women at Delhi University—where she majored in sociology. While at university, she started performing in political street theatre, also belonged to an amateur drama company in Delhi, where she worked with Indian theatre director Barry John and American dramatist Joseph Chaikin.
After turning down the offer of a full scholarship to Cambridge University in England, at the age of 19 she moved to the US to attend Harvard University on a scholarship. She concentrated in Visual and Environmental Studies, with a focus on documentary filmmaking, and graduated in 1979.
== Career ==
Before she became a filmmaker, Nair was originally interested in acting, and at one point she performed plays written by Badal Sircar, a Bengali performer. While she studied at Harvard, Nair became involved in the theater program and won a Boylston Prize for her performance of Jocasta's speech from Seneca's Oedipus.
Nair commented on film-making in a 2004 interview with FF2 Media's Jan Huttner:It’s all in how I do it. Keeping the bums on the seats is very important to me. It requires that ineffable thing called rhythm and balance in movie-making. Foils have to be created, counter-weights. From the intimacy, let’s say, of a love scene to the visceral, jugular quality of war. That shift is something in the editing, how one cuts from the intimate to the epic that keeps you there waiting. The energy propels you.
In an interview with Image Journal in 2017, Nair said that she chose directing over any other art form because it was collaborative. She says, "That's why I am neither a photographer nor writer, I like to work with people, and my strength, if any, is that. Working with life."
=== Documentaries ===
At the start of her filmmaking career, Nair primarily made documentaries in which she explored Indian cultural tradition. For her film thesis at Harvard between 1978 and 1979, she produced a black-and-white film titled Jama Masjid Street Journal. In the 18-minute film, Nair explored the streets of Old Delhi and had casual conversations with Indian locals. In 1982, she made her second documentary titled So Far from India, which is a 52-minute film that followed an Indian newspaper dealer living in the subways of New York, while his pregnant wife waited for him to return home. The film was recognized as a Best Documentary winner at the American Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland and New York's Global Village Film Festival.
Her third documentary, India Cabaret, with cinematography by her then husband Mitch Epstein, opened the inaugural Indian International Film Festival, in Hyderabad, in 1985. The film was very well received at the festival. It portrays the exploitation of female strippers in Bombay, and followed a customer who regularly visited a local strip club while his wife stayed at home. Nair raised roughly $130,000 for the project. The 59-minute film was shot over a span of two months. It was criticized by Nair's family. Her fourth and last documentary, made for Canadian television, explored how amniocentesis was being used to determine the sex of fetuses.
In 2001, with The Laughing Club of India, she explored yoga based on laughter. Its founder Dr. Madan Kararia spoke of the club's history and the growth of laughing clubs across the country, and subsequently the world. The documentary included testimonials from members of the laughter clubs who described how the practice had improved or changed their lives. Its featured segments included a group of workers in an electrical products factory in Mumbai who took time off to laugh during their coffee break.
=== Feature films ===
In June 1987, with her friend Sooni Taraporevala, Nair researched and co-wrote Salaam Bombay!. Nair sought out real street children to more authentically portray the lives of children who survived in the streets and were deprived of a true childhood. Mitch Epstein was co-producer and production designer on the film. Though the film did not do well at the box office, it won 23 international awards, including the Caméra d'Or and Prix du public at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated at the 1989 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
Nair and Taraporevala next worked together on the 1991 film Mississippi Masala, which told the story of Ugandan-born Indians displaced in Mississippi. Their research for the film started in March 1989. The film centers on a carpet-cleaner business owner (Denzel Washington) who falls in love with the daughter (Sarita Choudhury) of one of his Indian clients. The film revealed the prejudice in black and Indian communities. It was well received by critics, earned a standing ovation at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival, and won three awards at the Venice Film Festival.
Nair directed four more films before she produced Monsoon Wedding. Released in 2001, the film told the story of an Indian Punjabi wedding, written by Sabrina Dhawan. Employing a small crew and casting some of Nair's acquaintances and relatives, the film grossed over $30 million worldwide. The film was awarded the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, making Nair the first female recipient of the award. Nair then directed the Golden Globe-winning Hysterical Blindness (2002), followed by making William Makepeace Thackeray's epic Vanity Fair (2004).
In 2007, Nair was asked to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but turned it down to work on The Namesake, reportedly after her son Zohran persuaded her that she was the only one who could direct the latter. Based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri, Sooni Taraporevala's screenplay follows the son of Indian immigrants who wants to fit in with New York City society, but struggles to get away from his family's traditional ways. The film was presented with the Dartmouth Film Award and was also honored with the Pride of India award at the Bollywood Movie Awards. Next she directed the Amelia Earhart biopic Amelia (2009), starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere. The film predominantly received negative reviews. It was also a box-office bomb, grossing $19.6 million against a budget of $40 million.
In 2012, Nair directed The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a thriller based on the best-selling novel by Mohsin Hamid. It received mixed reviews from critics, and was a box office bomb, earning only $2.1 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. It opened the 2012 Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy to critical acclaim, and was released worldwide in early 2013. The Journal of Commonwealth Literature questioned "how the ambivalence and provocativeness of the 'source' text translates into the film adaptation, and the extent to which the film format makes the narrative more palatable and appealing to wider audiences as compared to the novel’s target readership."
Nair's 2016 film Queen of Katwe, a Walt Disney Pictures production, starred Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo, and was based on the story of Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi. It had a budget of $15 million and grossed $10.4 million.
=== Short films ===
Nair's short films include A Fork, a Spoon and a Knight, inspired by the Nelson Mandela quote, ″Difficulties break some men but make others.″ She contributed to 11'09"01 September 11 (2002) in which 11 filmmakers reacted to the events of 11 September 2001. Other titles include How Can It Be? (2008), Migration (2008), New York, I Love You (2009) and her collaboration with among others, Emir Kusturica and Guillermo Arriaga on the anthology film Words with Gods.
=== Other work ===
A long-time activist, Nair set up an annual film-makers' laboratory, Maisha Film Lab in Kampala, Uganda. Since 2005, young directors in East Africa have been trained at the nonprofit facility with the motto that "If we don't tell our stories, no one else will". As of 2018 Maisha was building a school with architect Raul Pantaleo, winner of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and his company, Studio Tamassociati.
In 1998, Nair used the profits from Salaam Bombay! to create the Salaam Baalak Trust, which works with Street children in India. A musical adaptation of Monsoon Wedding, directed by Nair, premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, running from 5 May to 16 July 2017. As of 2015, she lived in New York City, where she was an adjunct professor in the Film Division of the School of Arts for Columbia University in Manhattan. The university had a collaboration with Nair's Maisha Film Lab, and offered opportunities for international students to work together and share their interests in film-making.
In July 2020, journalist Ellen Barry announced that her Pulitzer Prize-nominated story "The Jungle Prince of Delhi" about the "royal family of Oudh", published in The New York Times, would be adapted into a web series for Amazon Studios by Nair. In March 2021 it was announced that Nair would direct a ten-episode TV series for Disney+ reimagining the National Treasure series with a new cast.
== Personal life ==
In 1977, Nair met her first husband, photographer Mitch Epstein, when taking photography classes at Harvard University. He was her lecturer, and they married in 1981 in India, in a traditional Punjabi wedding They divorced sometime before 1991.
On March 29, 1989, Nair met her second husband, Indo-Ugandan political scientist Mahmood Mamdani, while in Uganda doing research for the film Mississippi Masala. They married in 1991, and their son, Zohran Mamdani, was born in Kampala, Uganda in the same year. In 2020, Zohran won a seat representing Astoria, Queens, in the New York State Assembly. He won the Democratic Primary for the New York mayoral election in 2025.
Nair has been an enthusiastic yoga practitioner for decades; when making a film, she has the cast and crew start the day with a yoga session.
== Political views ==
In July 2013, Nair declined an invitation to the Haifa International Film Festival as a "guest of honor" to protest Israel's policies toward Palestine. In posts on Twitter, Nair wrote: "I will go to Israel when the walls come down. I will go to Israel when occupation is gone...I will go to Israel when the state does not privilege one religion over another. I will go to Israel when Apartheid is over. I stand w/ Palestine for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) & the larger BDS Mov’t." Nair was praised by PACBI, which said her decision to boycott Israel "helps to highlight the struggle against colonialism and apartheid."
== Filmography ==
Feature films
Short films
Documentary films
Jama Street Masjid Journal (1979)
So Far From India (1982)
India Cabaret (1984)
Children of a Desired Sex (1987)
Television films
My Own Country (1998)
Hysterical Blindness (2002)
Television series
== Awards ==
In 2012, Nair was awarded India's third highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan, by then president of India, Pratibha Patil.
=== Wins ===
1988: Audience Award, Cannes Film Festival: Salaam Bombay!
1988: Golden Camera (Best First Film), Cannes Film Festival: Salaam Bombay!
1988: National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi: Salaam Bombay!
1988: National Board of Review Award for Top Foreign Films: Salaam Bombay!
1988: "Jury Prize", "Most Popular Film" and "Prize of the Ecumenical Jury" at Montreal World Film Festival: Salaam Bombay!
1988: New Generation Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
1991: Golden Osella (Best Original Screenplay), Venice Film Festival: Mississippi Masala (with Sooni Taraporevala)
1991: Critics Special Award, São Paulo International Film Festival: Mississippi Masala
1992: Best Director (Foreign Film), Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists: Mississippi Masala
2001: Golden Lion (Best Film), Venice Film Festival: Monsoon Wedding
2001: Laterna Magica Prize, Venice Film Festival: Monsoon Wedding
2002: Audience Award, Canberra International Film Festival: Monsoon Wedding
2002: Special Award for International Cinema, Zee Cine Awards: Monsoon Wedding
2002: UNESCO Award, Venice Film Festival: 11'9"01 September 11
2003: Harvard Arts Medal
2004: Faith Hubley Web of Life Award, High Falls Film Festival
2012: "IFFI Centenary Award" for The Reluctant Fundamentalist
=== Nominations ===
1989: Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film: Salaam Bombay!
1989: César Award for Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger): Salaam Bombay!
1989: Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film: Salaam Bombay!
1990: BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language: Salaam Bombay!
1990: Filmfare Best Director Award: Salaam Bombay!
1990: Filmfare Best Movie Award: Salaam Bombay!
1991: Golden Lion (Best Film), Venice Film Festival: Mississippi Masala
1993: Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature: Mississippi Masala
1996: Golden Seashell, San Sebastián International Film Festival: Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love
1999: Best Film, Verzaubert International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival: My Own Country
2001: Screen International Award (Best Non-European Film), European Film Awards: Monsoon Wedding
2001: Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film: Monsoon Wedding
2002: BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language: Monsoon Wedding
2003: Golden Star, International Film Festival of Marrakech: Hysterical Blindness
2003: César Award for Best Film from the European Union: 11'9"01 September 11
2004: Golden Lion (Best Film), Venice Film Festival: Vanity Fair
2007: Gotham Award for Best Film: The Namesake
== See also ==
Indians in the New York metropolitan area
== References ==
== Further reading ==
Jigna Desai: Beyond Bollywood: The cultural politics of South Asian diasporic film, New York: Routledge, 2004, 280 pp. ill., ISBN 0-415-96684-1 (inb.) / ISBN 0-415-96685-X (hft.)
Gita Rajan: Pliant and compliant: colonial Indian art and postcolonial cinema. Women. Oxford (Print), ISSN 0957-4042; 13(2002):1, pp. 48–69
Alpana Sharma: Body matters: the politics of provocation in Mira Nair's films, QRFV: Quarterly review of film and video, ISSN 1050-9208; 18(2001):1, pp. 91–103
Pratibha Parmar: Mira Nair: filmmaking in the streets of Bombay, Spare rib, ISSN 0306-7971; 198, 1989, pp. 28–29
Gwendolyn Audrey Foster: Women Filmmakers of the African and Asian Diaspora: Decolonizing the Gaze, Locating Subjectivity. Carbondale, IL : Southern Illinois University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8093-2120-3
John Kenneth Muir: Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair, Hal Leonard, 2006, ISBN 1-55783-649-3, ISBN 978-1-55783-649-6
== External links ==
Mira Nair at IMDb
Papers of Mira Nair, 1929-2020. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
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