Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

filmmaker based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spheres. Among her best known films are ''

Mississippi Masala ''Mississippi Masala'' is a 1991 romantic drama film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, starring Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, and Roshan Seth. Set primarily in rural Mississippi, the film explores ...

'', '' The Namesake'', the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...

–winning ''

Monsoon Wedding ''Monsoon Wedding'' is a 2001 Indian comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by Sabrina Dhawan. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah and Vasundhara Das. The story depicts romantic entanglements during a tradi ...

'', and ''

Salaam Bombay! ''Salaam Bombay!'' is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language drama film, directed, co-written and co-produced by Mira Nair. The screenwriter was Nair's creative collaborator Sooni Taraporevala. This was the first feature film directed by Nair. The film ...

'', which received nominations for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

and the

BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language The BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 36th British Academy Film Awards, rec ...

Early life and education

Mira Nair was born on 15 October 1957 in

Rourkela Rourkela is a planned city located in the northern district Sundargarh of Odisha, India. It is the third-largest Urban Agglomeration in Odisha after Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It is situated about west of state capital Bhubaneswar and is surro ...

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

, India, and grew up with her two older brothers and parents in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

. Her father, Amrit Lal Nair, was an officer of the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

and her mother, Parveen Nayyar, is a social worker who often focused on children. She lived in Bhubaneswar until age 18, and attended a convent, following which she left to attend

Loreto Convent, Tara Hall, Shimla Tara Hall is an English-medium high school located in Upper Kaithu, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. The school is run by the Loreto Education Society. It is one of the best schools for girls in Shimla. Tradition Loreto Convent, Tara Hall be ...

, an Irish-Catholic missionary school, where she developed an infatuation with English literature. Following Tara Hall, Nair went on to study at

Miranda House Miranda House is a constituent college for women at the University of Delhi in India. Established in 1948, it is one of the top ranked colleges of the country and ranked as number 1 for consecutively six years (as of 2022). History Miranda ...

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

, where she majored in sociology. In order to gain the best education available, Nair applied for transfer to Western schools and, at 19, she was offered a full scholarship to

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, but ultimately turned it down and instead accepted a full scholarship to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

Before she became a filmmaker, Nair was originally interested in acting, and at one point she performed plays written by

Badal Sarkar Sudhindra Sircar (Born 15 July 1925), also known as Badal Sarkar, was an influential Indian dramatist and theatre director, most known for his anti-establishment plays during the Naxalite movement in the 1970s and taking theatre out of the pros ...

, 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 In Greek mythology, Jocasta (), also rendered Iocaste ( grc, Ἰοκάστη ) and also known as Epicaste (; ), was a daughter of Menoeceus, a descendant of the Spartoi Echion, and queen consort of Thebes. She was the wife of first Laius, t ...

's speech from

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

's ''

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; grc-gre, Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby ...

''. 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 buns 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.

Nair said to ''Image Journal'' in 2017 that she chose directing over any other art form because it was collaborative. "That’s why I am neither a photographer nor writer," she said. "I like to work with people, and my strength, if any, is that. Working with life."

Documentaries

At the start of her film-making career, Nair primarily made documentaries in which she explored Indian cultural tradition. For her film thesis at Harvard between 1978 and 1979, Nair produced a black-and-white film titled ''Jama Masjid Street Journal''. In the eighteen-minute film, Nair explored the streets of

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. Th ...

and had casual conversations with Indian locals. In 1982, she made her second documentary titled ''So Far from India'', which is a fifty-two-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. This film was recognized as a Best Documentary winner at the

American Film Festival American Film Festival is a film festival held annually in October in Wrocław, Poland. The first festival was held from 20 to 24 October 2010. The festival is organized by Stowarzyszenie Nowe Horyzonty and co-funded by the Wroclaw Municipality a ...

and New York's Global Village Film Festival. Her third documentary, ''India Cabaret'', released in 1984, revealed the exploitation of female strippers in

Bombay 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- ...

, 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 Television in Canada officially began with the sign-on of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, a ...

, explored how

amniocentesis Amniocentesis is a medical procedure used primarily in the prenatal diagnosis of genetic conditions. It has other uses such as in the assessment of infection and fetal lung maturity. Prenatal diagnostic testing, which includes amniocentesis, is ne ...

was being used to determine the sex of fetuses. Released in 1987, ''Children of a Desired Sex'' exposed the aborting of female fetuses due to society's favoring male offspring. In 2001, with The Laughing Club of India, she explored laughter based on yoga. 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 1983 with her friend,

Sooni Taraporevala Sooni Taraporevala (born 1957) is an Indian screenwriter, photographer and filmmaker who is the screenwriter of ''Mississippi Masala'', ''The Namesake (film), The Namesake'' and Oscar-nominated ''Salaam Bombay!'' (1988), all directed by Mira Na ...

, Nair co-wrote ''

''. Using her documentary film-making and acting experience, 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. Though the film did not do well at the box office, it won 23 international awards, including the Camera D’or and Prix du Public at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in 1988. ''Salaam Bombay!'' was nominated at the

Academy Awards 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 ...

for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

in 1989. Nair and Taraporevala continued to challenge audiences with the 1991 film ''

,'' which told the story of Ugandan-born Indians displaced in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. The film, featuring

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

Roshan Seth Roshan Seth (born 2 April 1942) is a British-Indian actor, writer and theatre director who has worked in the United Kingdom, United States and India. He began his acting career in the early 1960s in the UK, but left acting the following decade ...

, and

Sarita Choudhury Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury (born 18 August 1966) is a British actress, known for her role as Mina in the Mira Nair-directed feature film '' Mississippi Masala'' (1991). Choudhury has played roles in American and international films and te ...

, centers on a carpet-cleaner business owner (Washington) who falls in love with the daughter (Choudhury) of one of his Indian clients. The film revealed the evident prejudice in African-American and Indian communities. Like ''Salaam Bombay!'', the film was well received by critics, earned a standing ovation at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

in 1992, and won three awards at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. Nair went on to direct four more films before she produced one of her most notable films, ''

''. Released in 2001, the film told the story of a Punjabi Indian wedding, written by

Sabrina Dhawan Sabrina Dhawan is an Indian screenwriter and producer, born in England and raised in Delhi, India. Dhawan is an associate professor and the area head of screenwriting at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. She has been commissio ...

. 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

award at the

, 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 William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

's epic '' Vanity Fair'' (2004). In 2007, Nair was asked to direct ''

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the fifth novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It follows Harry Potter's struggles through his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witc ...

'', but turned it down to work on '' The Namesake''. Based on the book by

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winner

Jhumpa Lahiri Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" LahiriMinzesheimer, Bob ''USA Today'', August 19, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-04-13. (born July 11, 1967) is an American author known for her short stories, novels and essays in English, and, more recently, in Italia ...

, 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 The Bollywood Movie Awards was an annual film award ceremony held between 1999 and 2007 in Long Island, New York, United States, celebrating films and actors from the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai, India. History The predecessor to ...

. This was followed by the

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

biopic '' Amelia'' (2009), starring

Hilary Swank Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series '' Camp Wilder'' and made her film debut with a minor role in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1992 ...

and

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

. In 2012, Nair directed ''

The Reluctant Fundamentalist ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' is a "metafictional"Madiou, Mohamed Salah Eddine. “Mohsin Hamid Engages the World in The Reluctant Fundamentalist: ‘An Island on an Island,’ Worlds in Miniature and ‘Fiction’ in the Making.” Arab Stu ...

'', a thriller based on the best-selling novel by Mohsin Hamid. It opened the 2012 Venice Film Festival to critical acclaim and was released worldwide in early 2013. For the academic reception of Nair's adaptation of ''

'', ''The Journal of Commonwealth Literature'' questions "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 ''Queen of Katwe'' is a 2016 American biographical sports drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by William Wheeler. Starring David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, and Madina Nalwanga, the film depicts the life of Phiona Mutesi, a girl living in ...

'', a

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...

production, starred

Lupita Nyong'o Lupita Amondi Nyong'o (, ; ; born 1 March 1983) is a Kenyan-Mexican actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Lupita Nyong'o, several accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award, and nominations for ...

and

David Oyelowo David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards ...

and was based on the story of Ugandan chess prodigy

Phiona Mutesi Phiona Mutesi (born 28 March 1996) is a Ugandan chess player. She has represented Uganda at four Women's Chess Olympiads, and is one of the first titled female players in Ugandan chess history. Mutesi is the subject of a 2012 book and a 2016 fil ...

. Nair's short films include ''A Fork, a Spoon and a Knight,'' inspired by the

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

quote, ″Difficulties break some men but make others.″ She contributed to ''

11'09"01 September 11 ''11'09"1 September 11'' is a 2002 international film composed of 11 contributions from different filmmakers, each from a different country. Each gave their own vision of the events in New York City during the September 11 attacks, in a short fi ...

'' (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 Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

and

Guillermo Arriaga Guillermo Arriaga Jordán (; born 13 March 1958) is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as "a hunter who works as a writer," he is best known for his Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and BAFTA Award f ...

on the compilation feature '' Words with Gods''.

Other work

A longtime activist, Nair set up an annual film-makers' laboratory,

Maisha Film Lab Maisha Film Lab is a Uganda-based non-profit training film initiative for emerging East African filmmakers and mentor ship programme for aspiring filmmakers and youth in Eastern Africa. It encompasses film production, screenwriting, directing, pro ...

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''". Maisha is currently building a school with Architect Raul Pantaleo, winner of Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and his company Studio Tamassociati. In 1998, she used the profits from ''Salaam Bombay!'' to create the Salaam Baalak Trust which works with street children in India. A musical adaptation of ''

'', directed by Nair, premiered at the

Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley. History The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident p ...

, running from 5 May to 16 July 2017. As of 2015, she lives in New York City, where she is an adjunct professor in the Film Division of the School of Arts for

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. The university has a collaboration with Nair's Maisha Film Lab, and offers opportunities for international students to work together and share their interests in film-making. In July 2020, journalist Ellen Barry announced that her

-nominated story "The Jungle Prince of Delhi" about the " royal family of Oudh", published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', would be adapted into a web series for

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

by Nair. In March 2021 it was announced Nair would direct a ten episode TV series for

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

reimagining the ''National Treasure'' series with a new cast.

Personal life

In 1977, Nair met her first husband,

Mitch Epstein Mitchell Epstein (born 1952) is an American fine-art photographer, among the first to make significant use of color. His books include ''Property Rights'' (2021), ''In India'' (2021), ''Sunshine Hotel'' (2019), ''Rocks and Clouds'' (2018), ''Ne ...

, when taking photography classes at Harvard University. They divorced by 1987, and in 1988 Nair met her second husband, the Indo-Ugandan political scientist

Mahmood Mamdani Mahmood Mamdani, FBA (born 23 April 1946) is an Indian-born Ugandan academic, author, and political commentator. He currently serves as the Chancellor of Kampala International University, Uganda. He was the director of the Makerere Institute o ...

, while in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

doing research for the film ''Mississippi Masala''. Like his wife, Mamdani also teaches at

. Their son, Zohran Mamdani, was born in Uganda in 1991. In 2020, Zohran won a seat representing

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...

in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

after defeating incumbent Assemblymember Aravella Simotas in the Democratic primary election earlier in the year. Nair has been an enthusiastic

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

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 The Haifa International Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place every autumn (between late September and late October), during the week-long holiday of Sukkot, in Haifa, Israel. History The festival was inaugurated in 1983 and ...

as a "guest of honor" to protest Israel's policies toward

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. In postings on her Twitter account, Nair stated "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 will go to Israel, soon. I stand w/ Palestine for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) & the larger Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Mov’t." Nair was subsequently praised by PACBI, which stated that her decision to boycott Israel "helps to highlight the struggle against colonialism and apartheid." She subsequently tweeted "I will go to Israel, soon."

Filmography

Awards

She was awarded the

India Abroad ''India Abroad'' is a weekly newspaper published from New York City, which focuses on Indian news meant for an Indian American, Indian diaspora and expatriate audience. The publication is known for its annual award ceremony for the "India Abroad ...

Person of the Year-2007. In 2012 she was awarded India's third highest civilian award the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

by President of India,

Pratibha Patil Prathibha DeviSingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th president of India spanning from 2007 to 2012. She is the first woman to become the president of India. A member of the Indian National ...

Wins

* 1985: Best Documentary Film, Global Village Film Festival: ''India Cabaret'' * 1986: Golden Athena, Athens International Film Festival: ''India Cabaret'' * 1986: Blue Ribbon, American Film Festival: ''India Cabaret'' * 1988: Audience Award,

: ''

'' * 1988: Golden Camera (Best First Film),

: ''

'' * 1988:

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several a ...

: ''

'' * 1988: National Board of Review Award for Top Foreign Films: ''

'' * 1988: "Jury Prize", "Most Popular Film" and "

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury The Prize of the Ecumenical Jury (french: Prix du Jury Œcuménique) is an independent film award for feature length films shown at major international film festivals since 1973. The award was created by Christian film makers, film critics and ot ...

" at

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

: ''

'' * 1988: New Generation Award,

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975. Background Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles-based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organiza ...

* 1988: Lilian Gish Award (Excellence in Feature Film), Los Angeles Women in Film Festival: ''

'' * 1991:

Golden Osella The Golden Osella is the name of several awards given at the Venice Film Festival. They are awarded irregularly and in various categories such as directing, screenwriting, cinematography, and technical contributions. The name derives from the ''o ...

(Best Original Screenplay),

: ''

'' (with

) * 1991: Critics Special Award,

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organized ...

: ''

'' * 1992: Best Director (Foreign Film),

Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

: ''

'' * 1992: Asian Media Award, Asian American International Film Festival * 1993:

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

for Best Feature: ''

'' * 2000: Special Mention (Documentary and Essay), Biarritz International Festival of Audiovisual Programming: ''The Laughing Club of India'' * 2001:

(Best Film),

: ''

'' * 2001: Laterna Magica Prize,

: ''

'' * 2002: Audience Award,

Canberra International Film Festival The Canberra International Film Festival (CIFF) is an annual film festival held in Canberra, Australia. It is a cinema celebration across an 11-day program in October/November each year. It is a showcase of films from Australia and around the gl ...

: ''

'' * 2002: Special Award for International Cinema,

Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema - the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA went internat ...

: ''

'' * 2002: UNESCO Award,

: '' 11'9"01 September 11'' * 2003: Faith Hubley Memorial Award,

Provincetown International Film Festival The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held on Cape Cod in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents American and international narrative features, documentaries and short films f ...

*2003: Harvard Arts Medal * 2004: Faith Hubley Web of Life Award,

Rochester-High Falls International Film Festival The High Falls Film Festival, founded in 2001, is a film festival that focuses on celebrating women in film. The festival is inspired by Rochester, New York, Rochester, New York (state), New York's legacy in nitrate film and the women’s rights mov ...

* 2007: "Golden Aphrodite", Love Is Folly International Film Festival (Bulgaria): '' The Namesake'' * 2012: " IFFI Centenary Award" for ''

'' * 2012: Padma Bhushan by Government of India

Nominations

* 1989:

: ''

'' * 1989: César Award for Best Foreign Film (''Meilleur film étranger''): ''

'' * 1989:

Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film coul ...

: ''

'' * 1990:

: ''

'' * 1990:

Filmfare Best Director Award The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in Hindi cinema. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year. Superlatives Bimal Roy has the re ...

: ''

'' * 1990:

Filmfare Best Movie Award The Filmfare Award for Best Film is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years. Eac ...

: ''

'' * 1991:

(Best Film),

: ''

'' * 1996: Golden Seashell,

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in th ...

: '' Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love'' * 1999: Best Film, Verzaubert International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival: ''

My Own Country ''My Own Country: A Doctor's Story'' is Abraham Verghese's first book. First published in 1994, it made that year's ''New York Times Notable Book'' list. It is used in colleges and medical schools throughout North America and across the world beca ...

'' * 2001: Screen International Award (Best Non-European Film),

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

: ''

'' * 2001:

: ''

'' * 2002:

: ''

'' * 2003: Golden Star,

International Film Festival of Marrakech The Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM) ( ar, المهرجان الدولي للفيلم بمراكش, Amazigh ⴰⵏⵎⵓⴳⴳⴰⵔ ⴰⴳⵔⴰⵖⵍⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵍⴼⵉⵍⵎ ⴳ ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ ) is an international film festi ...

: '' Hysterical Blindness'' * 2003:

César Award for Best Film from the European Union This is a list of the winners of and nominees for the César Award for Best Film from the European Union (''Meilleur film de l'Union Européenne''). The prize was awarded three times, in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and was subsequently discontinued. In 20 ...

: '' 11'9"01 September 11'' * 2004:

(Best Film),

: '' Vanity Fair'' * 2007:

Gotham Award The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

for Best Film: '' The Namesake''

References

Sidewalks Entertainment ''Sidewalks Entertainment'' (1988–present) is a weekly American television series that is a combination of a talk show, magazine show and variety show featuring celebrity interviews, music, artistic and novelty acts, and rising performers. The ...

''
Video: Mira Nair at the Asia Society
10 Dec 2009
Mira Nair: A Life in Pictures
BAFTA event video *''The Fabulous Picture Show''
part 1part 2
- Master Class with Mira Nair at the Doha film festival, Al Jazeera English, Dec 2009 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nair, Mira 1957 births People from Rourkela Activists from Odisha Artists from Bhubaneswar Living people Film directors from New York City 20th-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian film directors English-language film directors Directors of Caméra d'Or winners Directors of Golden Lion winners Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Columbia University faculty Harvard University alumni Delhi University alumni American women film directors Indian women film directors Indian women activists Women artists from Odisha 20th-century Indian women artists 21st-century Indian women artists Indian emigrants to the United States American film directors of Indian descent American people of Punjabi descent American women academics 21st-century American women Indian directors

Early life and education

Career

Documentaries

Feature films

Other work

Personal life

Political views

Filmography

Awards

Wins

Nominations

See also

References

Further reading

External links