Why Is She Famous?
Mira Nair is an Indian filmmaker of international repute. She started
her carrier as an actor and then turned to directing documentaries. Her
early documentaries included "So Far From India" and "India
Cabaret". Mira Nair made a mark from her very first feature film,
Salaam Bombay, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign
Language Film Category in 1988. Salaam Bombay 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. Her next
film, The Mississippi Masala won three awards at the Venice film
festival. Mira Nair's subsequent films include the Perez Family, My own
country, Kamasutra and the monsoon wedding. Winner of the Golden Lion at
the 2001 Venice Film Festival, Monsoon Wedding also won a Golden Globe
nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and received tremendous
critical and commercial success.
Background
Mira Nair was born in 1958, Bhubaneshwar, India. Her parents hail from
the Punjab. Mira had her early education at a boarding school at Shimla.
It was here that Mira developed passion for dramatics and theatre. Mira
read the 'Vanity Fair' when she was just 16 and later adapted it into a
film. Mira Nair studied in the Delhi University and then went to the
United States to study sociology and later theatre at the Harvard
University. Mira is married to Hehmood Mamdani; a Ugandan national.
Mira's greatest recognition came with her first feature film, Salaam
Bombay! She was awarded the Best New Director at the Cannes Film
Festival and also got a nomination for best foreign film at the Academy
Awards. In the year 2002 she directed a section of the French-produced
anthology film 11/09/01, featuring short films from 11 international
filmmakers in response to September 11. Along with teaching at Columbia
University, Nair would next direct the film Vanity Fair, based on the
novel by W M Thackeray. Mira Nair was offered the job of directing Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).
 |
Indians Abroad |
