Jagmohan "Jag" Mundhra (29 October 1948 – 4 September 2011) was an Indian director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his early career as an American
exploitation film
An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...
writer-director.
Family and early life
Mundhra was born at
Nagpur
Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...
and grew up in a Marwari locality in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
in a conservative family where films were frowned upon. He nevertheless nurtured a secret ambition to become a filmmaker. His childhood, as of other Indians of his generation, was a tough one, counting pennies for the tram that rode to the other, affluent side of the city, and withstanding his family's strict traditions.
According to Mundhra, "The family was very conservative and my grand mother was very strict and we were allowed to see maybe a couple of films a year and that too of the Har Har Mahadev variety. ... Even as a child I never saw myself as a young Marwari boy but a lot beyond that. In those days, the word global citizen was not there, but inside I felt like one".
[
A key influence on Mundhra was his admission to the highly competitive and prestigious ]IIT Bombay
The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay or IITB) is a public research university and technical institute in Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is considered as one of the best engineering universities in India and is top ranked ...
. In his words, "I had studied in a Hindi medium school up to 9th grade and always admired people who spoke English fluently. IIT taught me a lot of humility. In my wing, there were students who were from different states, and as far as English went, this person from Bihar who couldn't speak English to save his life outshone everyone else with his brilliance. I did well, but realized very early on while in IIT that engineering was not for me. I would be very unhappy if I was to live my life being an engineer, but I stuck it out because I didn't want to let my parents down". He pursued a master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in electrical engineering but switched to a PhD program in motion pictures at University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, before embarking on his film career.
Career
After his first dramas, '' Suraag'' (1982), and the socially-relevant film, '' Kamla'' (1984), Mundhra directed, in the late 1980s and the 1990s, a string of horror and erotic thriller
The erotic thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or erotic fantasy. Though exact definitions of the erotic thriller can vary, it is generally agreed "bodily danger and pleasure must remain in ...
movies for theatrical distribution and direct to video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
, including ''The Jigsaw Murders'' (1988), ''Hack-O-Lantern'' (1988), ''Night Eyes
''Night Eyes'' is a 1990 American erotic thriller film written by Tom Citrano and Andrew Stevens and directed by Jag Mundhra. It stars Andrew Stevens, Tanya Roberts, Cooper Huckabee, and Warwick Sims. The film was followed by a series of sequels f ...
'' (1990), ''The Other Women'' (1992), ''L.A. Goddess'' (1993), ''Sexual Malice'' (1994), '' Tales of The Kama Sutra: The Perfumed Garden'' (2000), and '' Tales of The Kama Sutra 2: Monsoon'' (2001).
Beginning with ''Bawandar
''Bawandar'' (English title: ''The Sand Storm'') is a 2000 Indian film, based on the true story of Bhanwari Devi, a rape victim from Rajasthan, India. The film depicts the personal trauma, public humiliation and legal injustice that Bhanwari Devi ...
'' (2000), which he directed under the name Jagmohan, Mundhra was back to issue-oriented films. ''Bawandar'' is about the fight of a poor woman for justice and was based on the story of a Rajasthani woman, Bhanwari Devi
Bhanwari Devi (also spelled Bahveri Devi) is an Indian social-worker from Bhateri, Rajasthan, who was gang raped in 1992 by men angered by her efforts to prevent a child marriage in their family. Her subsequent treatment by the police, and co ...
. After the film's release, Ashok Gehlot
Ashok Gehlot (born 3 May 1951) politician serving as the current Chief Minister of Rajasthan. He held this position from December 1998 to 2003, and from 2008 to 2013, and again from 17 December 2018. He represents Sardarpura constituency of Jo ...
, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan
The chief minister of Rajasthan is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Rajasthan. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto' ...
, called Mundhra and said, "Aapke bawandar ne bada bawander machaya hai." He gave Rs 50,000 and land to Bhanwari Devi and also money for her son's education. To Mundhra, "It's not a movie about rape, but the empowerment of a woman. This character could be fictitious and yet the story would have had the same powerful message". In his own words, ''Kamla'', ''Bawandar'' and ''Provoked'' (2006) are his trilogy of strong female-centric films.
At the time of his death, Mundhra was working on a film based on the life of Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi ('' née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independ ...
. Mundhra was also a life member of the International Film & Television Club of the Asian Academy of Film & Television
Noida Film City houses the Asian Academy of Film & Television and Marwah Films & Video Studios along with prominent news channels from India. It is located in Sector 16-A Noida, India. It was founded in 1988 by Sandeep Marwah, an Indian film pro ...
.
Filmography
* '' Suraag'' (1982)
* '' Kamla'' (1984)
* ''The Jigsaw Murders'' (1988)
* ''Hack-O-Lantern'' (1988)
* ''Night Eyes
''Night Eyes'' is a 1990 American erotic thriller film written by Tom Citrano and Andrew Stevens and directed by Jag Mundhra. It stars Andrew Stevens, Tanya Roberts, Cooper Huckabee, and Warwick Sims. The film was followed by a series of sequels f ...
'' (1990)
* ''Legal Tender
Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in pa ...
'' (1991)
* ''The Other Women'' (1992)
* ''L.A. Goddess'' (1993)
* ''Sexual Malice'' (1994)
* '' Improper Conduct (1994)''
* '' Tales of The Kama Sutra: The Perfumed Garden'' (2000)
* '' Tales of The Kama Sutra 2: Monsoon'' (2001)
* ''Bawandar
''Bawandar'' (English title: ''The Sand Storm'') is a 2000 Indian film, based on the true story of Bhanwari Devi, a rape victim from Rajasthan, India. The film depicts the personal trauma, public humiliation and legal injustice that Bhanwari Devi ...
'' (2000)
Personal life
Mundhra is the father of Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-nominated director/producer Smriti Mundhra.
Death
Mundhra died in Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
on 4 September 2011, aged 62, from pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
and multiple organ failure.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mundhra, Jag
1948 births
2011 deaths
IIT Bombay alumni
Michigan State University alumni
American film directors of Indian descent
Indian male screenwriters
Hindi-language film directors
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian documentary filmmakers
American screenwriters of Indian descent
American people of Indian descent
American businesspeople
Deaths from pneumonia in India
Film directors from Maharashtra
Artists from Nagpur
Film producers from Maharashtra
20th-century Indian film directors