Mira Nair facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mira Nair
Nair in 2011
Born	(1957-10-15) 15 October 1957 (age 67) Rourkela, Orissa, India
Alma mater	Miranda House, University of Delhi Harvard University
Occupation	Film director Film producer
Years active	1986–present
Spouse(s)	Mitch Epstein ​ (div. 1987)​ Mahmood Mamdani ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	Zohran Mamdani
Awards	Padma Bhushan (2012)

Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is a famous Indian-American filmmaker. She lives in New York City and has her own film company called Mirabai Films. She is known for directing many popular movies like Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, and Monsoon Wedding, which won a big award called the Golden Lion. Her film Salaam Bombay! was even nominated for an Oscar!

Early Life and Education

Mira Nair was born on October 15, 1957, in Rourkela, Orissa, India. She grew up in Bhubaneswar with her two older brothers and her parents. Her father, Amrit Lal Nair, worked for the Indian government. Her mother, Parveen Nayyar, was a social worker who helped children.

Mira lived in Bhubaneswar until she was 18. She went to a convent school, which is a type of school run by nuns. Later, she attended Loreto Convent, Tara Hall, Shimla, an Irish-Catholic school. There, she fell in love with English literature. After that, Nair studied sociology at Miranda House at Delhi University. She wanted to get the best education possible. At 19, she received a full scholarship to Harvard University in the United States, which she accepted.

Filmmaking Career

Before becoming a film director, Mira Nair was interested in acting. She even performed in plays by Badal Sarkar, a famous Indian playwright. While studying at Harvard, she joined the theater program. She won an award for her acting in a play called Oedipus.

Mira Nair loves making movies because it's a team effort. She once said that she enjoys working with people. She believes that working with others is her greatest strength.

Making Documentaries

When Mira Nair first started making films, she focused on documentaries. These are films that show real life and explore different topics. She often looked at Indian traditions and culture.

For her project at Harvard in 1979, she made a black-and-white film called Jama Masjid Street Journal. In this 18-minute film, she explored the streets of Old Delhi. She had casual chats with local people there.

In 1982, she made another documentary called So Far from India. This film was about an Indian newspaper seller living in the New York subway. His pregnant wife was waiting for him to come home. This film won an award for Best Documentary at the American Film Festival.

In 2001, she made a film about The Laughing Club of India. This club practices laughter yoga, which is a type of yoga that uses laughter. The film showed how laughing clubs started and grew. People in the film shared how laughter had made their lives better.

Directing Feature Films

In 1983, Mira Nair worked with her friend Sooni Taraporevala to write Salaam Bombay!. Nair wanted the film to feel real. So, she found actual "street children" to act in the movie. These were children who lived on the streets and didn't have a normal childhood. Even though the film didn't make a lot of money, it won 23 international awards. It was also nominated for an Oscar in 1989.

Nair and Taraporevala worked together again on the 1991 film Mississippi Masala. This movie tells the story of Indian families who had to leave Uganda and moved to Mississippi in the U.S. The film is about a carpet cleaner (Denzel Washington) who falls in love with the daughter (Sarita Choudhury) of one of his Indian customers. The movie showed how people from different backgrounds sometimes had unfair ideas about each other. Critics liked the film, and it won three awards at the Venice Film Festival.

Mira Nair directed several more films before making Monsoon Wedding. This movie came out in 2001. It's about a big Punjabi Indian wedding. The film was made with a small team. Some of Nair's friends and family even acted in it! Monsoon Wedding earned over $30 million around the world. It won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. Mira Nair was the first woman to win this important award.

In 2007, Mira Nair was asked to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. But she chose to direct The Namesake instead. This film is based on a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri. It's about the son of Indian immigrants who wants to fit in with New York City life. But he also tries to stay connected to his family's traditions. The film won the Pride of India award at the Bollywood Movie Awards.

Nair also directed Amelia (2009), a movie about the famous pilot Amelia Earhart. It starred Hilary Swank and Richard Gere.

In 2012, Nair directed The Reluctant Fundamentalist. This was a thriller movie based on a popular book. It opened the 2012 Venice Film Festival.

Mira Nair's 2016 film Queen of Katwe was made by Walt Disney Pictures. It starred Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo. The movie tells the true story of Phiona Mutesi, a young chess genius from Uganda.

Short Films and Other Projects

Mira Nair has also made several short films. One of them is A Fork, a Spoon and a Knight. This film was inspired by a quote from Nelson Mandela. She also contributed to 11'09"01 September 11 (2002). In this film, 11 different directors shared their thoughts on the events of September 11, 2001.

Mira Nair is also an activist. She started a program called Maisha Film Lab in Kampala, Uganda. Since 2005, this program has helped young directors in East Africa learn how to make films. The idea is that "If we don't tell our stories, no one else will."

In 1998, she used money from her film Salaam Bombay! to create the Salaam Baalak Trust. This organization helps street children in India.

A musical version of Monsoon Wedding was also created. Mira Nair directed this musical, which opened in 2017.

Mira Nair lives in New York City. She teaches film at Columbia University. Her Maisha Film Lab also works with the university. This gives students from different countries a chance to work together and share their love for filmmaking.

In 2020, it was announced that Mira Nair would adapt a story called "The Jungle Prince of Delhi" into a TV series for Amazon. In 2021, Disney+ announced that Nair would direct a TV series based on the National Treasure movies.

Personal Life

In 1977, Mira Nair met her first husband, photographer Mitch Epstein, while taking photography classes. They later divorced.

In 1988, Nair met her second husband, Mahmood Mamdani. He is a political scientist from Uganda. They met while she was doing research for her film Mississippi Masala. Like his wife, Mamdani teaches at Columbia University. Their son, Zohran Mamdani, was born in Uganda in 1991. In 2020, Zohran won a seat in the New York State Assembly, which is part of the government in New York.

Mira Nair has practiced yoga for many years. When she is making a film, she often has the actors and crew start their day with a yoga session.

Filmography

Documentary Films

• Jama Street Masjid Journal (1979)
• So Far From India (1982)

TV Movies

• India Cabaret (1985) (Documentary)
• My Own Country (1998)
• Hysterical Blindness (2002)

Feature Films

Short Films

TV Series

Awards and Recognition

Nair at the Zanzibar International Film Festival, 2013

Mira Nair has received many awards for her work. In 2007, she was named the India Abroad Person of the Year. In 2012, she received the Padma Bhushan from the President of India. This is one of India's highest awards for civilians.

Major Wins

• 1988: Audience Award, Cannes Film Festival: Salaam Bombay!
• 1988: Golden Camera (Best First Film), Cannes Film Festival: Salaam Bombay!
• 1991: Golden Osella (Best Original Screenplay), Venice Film Festival: Mississippi Masala
• 2001: Golden Lion (Best Film), Venice Film Festival: Monsoon Wedding
• 2012: IFFI Centenary Award for The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Key Nominations

• 1989: Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film: 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!
• 2001: Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film: Monsoon Wedding
• 2002: BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language: Monsoon Wedding