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Introduction

Mira Nair is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spheres.

Early life and education

Nair was born on 15 October 1957 in Rourkela, Odisha, and grew up with her two older brothers and parents in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Her father, Amrit Nair, is an Indian administrative officer, and her mother, Parveen Nayyar, is a social worker who often worked with children.

Tara Hall and Delhi University

By thirteen she left home to attend Loreto Convent, Tara Hall, Shimla, an Irish-Catholic missionary school located in Simla, where she developed an infatuation with English literature. Following Tara Hall, Nair went on to study at Miranda House at Delhi University, where she majored in sociology.

Harvard University

In order to gain the best education available, Nair applied to Western schools and at nineteen she was offered a full scholarship to Cambridge University, but ultimately turned it down and instead accepted a full scholarship to Harvard University.

Career

Before she became a filmmaker, Nair was originally interested in acting, and at one point she performed plays written by Badal Sarkar, a Bengali performer. While she studied at Harvard University, Nair became involved in the theater program and won a Boylston Prize for her performance of Jocasta’s speech from Seneca’s Oedipus.

Documentaries

At the start of her film-making career, Nair primarily made documentaries in which she explored Indian cultural tradition. Nair produced a black-and-white film entitled Jama Masjid Street Journal. In the eighteen-minute film, Nair explores the streets of Old Delhi and has casual conversations with Indian locals.

So Far from India

In 1982, she made her second documentary entitled So Far from India, which is a fifty-two-minute film that followed an Indian newspaper dealer living in the subways of New York. This film was recognized as a Best Documentary winner at the American Film Festival and New York's Global Village Film Festival.

Last documentary

Her fourth and last documentary, made for Canadian television, explored how amniocentesis was being used to determine the sex of fetuses.

Feature films

In 1983 with her friend, Sooni Taraporevala, Nair co-wrote Salaam Bombay!. Though the film did not do well in the box office, it won 23 international awards, including the Camera D’or and Prix du Public at the Cannes Film Festival in 1988.

Mississippi Masala

Nair and Taraporevala continued to challenge audiences with the 1991 film Mississippi Masala, which told the story of Ugandan-born Indians displaced in Mississippi.

Monsoon Wedding

Nair went on to direct four more films before she produced one of her most notable films, Monsoon Wedding. Released in 2001, the film told the story of a Punjabi Indian wedding, written by Sabrina Dhawan. The film was awarded the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, making Nair the first female recipient of the award.

The Namesake

In 2007, Nair was asked to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but turned it down to work on The Namesake, based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri.

Queen of Katwe

Nair's 2016 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.

Maisha Film Lab

A longtime 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 this non-profit facility with the belief that "If we don’t tell our stories, no one else will".

Columbia University

She currently lives in New York City, where she is an adjunct professor in the Film Division of the School of Arts for Columbia University.

Personal life

In 1977, Nair met her first husband, Mitch Epstein, when taking photography classes at Harvard University. They divorced by 1987.

Second marriage

In 1988 Nair met her second husband, the Indo-Ugandan political scientist Mahmood Mamdani, while in Uganda doing research for the film Mississippi Masala. Their son, Zohran, was born in 1991. Like his wife, Mamdani also teaches at Columbia University.

Awards and recognition

She was awarded the India Abroad Person of the Year-2007. In 2012 she was awarded India's third highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan by President of India, Pratibha Patil.