Sooni Taraporevala (born 1957) is an Indian screenwriter, photographer and filmmaker who is the screenwriter of '' Mississippi Masala'', '' The Namesake'' and Oscar-nominated ''

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 ...

'' (1988), all directed by

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) 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 spher ...

. She also adapted Rohinton Mistry's novel ''Such A Long Journey'' ''(2000)'' wrote the films ''Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar'' her directorial debut ''Little Zizou'' as well as her latest film ''Yeh Ballet'' (2020) A Netflix Original that she wrote and directed. She directed her first feature film, based on a screenplay of her own, an ensemble piece set 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 secon ...

, in Spring, 2007, entitled '' Little Zizou''. This film explores issues facing the

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

community to which she belongs. In 2010 Little Zizou won a National award for Best Film on Family Values She was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in 2014. She is a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

. Her photographs are in the permanent collections of the

National Gallery of Modern Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(NGMA) in Delhi and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York.

Early life and education

Taraporevala was born to a

family in Mumbai in 1957. She completed her schooling from

Queen Mary School, Mumbai The Queen Mary School, founded in 1875, is a private school for girls in Grant road, Mumbai, India. It operates under the management of the Christian Medical Educational Fellowship (C.M.E.F) Trust and prepares students to take the Indian Certifi ...

. She received a full scholarship to attend Harvard University as an undergraduate. Though she majored in English and American Literature, she took many film courses including filmmaking taught by

Alfred Guzzetti Alfred Guzzetti (born 1942) is a maker of documentary and experimental films and tapes. His work has been shown at the New York Film Festival, the Margaret Mead Festival, and other festivals in London, Rotterdam, Germany, Spain and France, as w ...

. She met

as an undergraduate, leading to their longtime creative collaboration. Next she joined the Cinema Studies Department at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, and after receiving her MA in Film Theory and Criticism, in 1981, she returned to India to work as a freelance still photographer. She returned to Los Angeles in 1988 and worked as a screenwriter, writing commissioned screenplays for a wide variety of studios including Universal, HBO and Disney. She moved back to India for good in 1992 .

Screenplays

Taraporevala wrote the screenplays for ''

'' and '' Mississippi Masala'', both directed by

. Other projects with Nair include the screenplay for ''

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 becau ...

'', based on the book by

Abraham Verghese Abraham Verghese (born 1955) is an American physician, author, Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. He is also the author of ...

, as well as '' The Namesake'' (2006), a cinematic adaptation of Pulitzer–winning writer

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 ...

's novel, '' The Namesake''. Her other produced credits include the film '' Such a Long Journey'' based on the novel '' Such a Long Journey'' by Rohinton Mistry and directed by Sturla Gunnarson, and the screenplay for the film ''

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...

'', directed by Jabbar Patel for the Government of India and the

National Film Development Corporation of India The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) based in Mumbai is the central agency established in 1975, to encourage high quality Indian cinema. It functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution and under Ministr ...

(NFDC). In 2016 she directed a 14-minute documentary virtual reality film '' Yeh Ballet'' for

Anand Gandhi Anand Gandhi (born Anand Modi, 26 September 1980) is an Indian filmmaker, entrepreneur, media producer, innovator and systems researcher. He is also the founder/CEO of the Mumbai-based new media studio and systems think tank Memesys Culture Lab ...

's Memesys Culture Lab. In 2020 she wrote and directed a feature film based on her documentary. The Netflix Original film ''Yeh Ballet'' produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Roy Kapur Films can be seen on Netflix worldwide.

Photography

In 1982, during a break from college, she met photographer Raghubir Singh, who, after looking at her work, which included photographs of her extended Parsi family, suggested she work on a book about the Parsi community. This started her extensive work of photo documentation of the Parsi community. In 2000, she self-published ''Parsis, the Zoroastrians of India: a photographic journey, 1980-2000'' about the traditionally closed off community since their persecution in Persia, the first and only visual documentation of the Parsi community. An updated edition was published in 2004. Her photographs have been exhibited in India, the US, France and Britain, including London's

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

gallery. She has had solo shows at the

Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts is the only building designed primarily by Le Corbusier in the United States—he contributed to the design of the United Nations Secretariat Building—a ...

at Harvard University,

Chemould Prescott Road Chemould Prescott Road, founded (as Gallery Chemould), is the first contemporary art gallery in Mumbai, India. Gallery Chemould Prescott Road, a contemporary art gallery in India, was founded by Kekoo Gandhy and Khorshed Gandhy in 1963. Bas ...

in Mumbai and the

(NGMA) in Delhi. Her work is in the permanent collections of the NGMA Delhi and the MET New York. In 2017/2018, the Whitworth in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

exhibited her photographic show ''Home in the City, Bombay 1977 Mumbai 2017''. It was selected by The Guardian as one of UK's top 5 shows. A larger version of ''Home in the City'' with 102 photographs was exhibited at Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, from 14 through 31 October 2017. An accompanying book, ''Home in the city: Bombay 1977 Mumbai 2017'', was released with essays by Pico Iyer and Salman Rushdie. It then traveled to the

Sunaparanta, Goa Centre for the Arts Sunaparanta, Goa Centre for the Arts is a cultural centre in Altinho, Panjim, Goa. Its official website describes it as a "non-profit, process-based initiative to encourage creation, learning, understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the vis ...

Altinho, Goa Altinho ('' pt, High'') is a hill neighbourhood of Panaji, the state capital of India's smallest state Goa. In the past it has been considered an elite residential colony, with the State's chief minister's residence and the Archbishop's palace ...

, opening there on 11 November 2017.

Filmography

Awards

* 1988: Lillian Gish award for Excellence in Film from Women in Film, for the screenplay of Salaam Bombay! * 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 '' ...

(Best Original Screenplay)

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 h ...

: '' Mississippi Masala'' *2008: Time/Warner Best Screenplay Award at Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council, New York, for ''Little Zizou'' *2008: Best Director at Mahindra Indo- American Arts Council, New York, for ''Little Zizou'' *2008: Best Producer at Asian Festival of 1ST Films, Singapore, for ''Little Zizou'' *2009 : Best Director of Experience Section of Levante International Film Festival, Italy, for ''Little Zizou'' *2009 : Audience Choice Award at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, (IFFLA) for ''Little Zizou'' * 2014:

) *2020: Filmfare nomination for Best Film Web Original, for ''Yeh Ballet''

Memberships

* Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (2017–present) * Writers Guild of America (1989–present)

References

External links

''Biography'':
Official Website

Trailer of upcoming documentary on Taraporevala
* SAWNET biography * * http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/10/30/sooni-taraporevala-parsis-zizou/ at

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

* https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/719511 at THE MET * https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/VcDlKlKfiCz3SFxHE6TBrM/Sooni-Taraporevala-To-Bombay-with-love.html at Mint * http://www.gallerychemould.com/exhibitions/sooni-taraporevala-bombay-mumbai-black-white-photographs/ * https://thewire.in/culture/bombay-mumbai-seen-sooni-taraporewalas-sharp-eye at

THE WIRE ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...

''Misc.'':
NPR radio feature
at Npr
Iranian.com feature

St Louis Post-Dispatch- NYTimes wire story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taraporevala, Sooni 1957 births Living people Indian women screenwriters Indian women photographers Parsi people from Mumbai Indian women film directors Screenwriters from Mumbai Harvard University alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni Social documentary photographers Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Gujarati-language film directors 20th-century Indian photographers 21st-century Indian photographers Indian photojournalists Indian movie stills photographers 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian women artists 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian writers 20th-century Indian women artists 20th-century Indian film directors Indian portrait photographers Women writers from Maharashtra Women artists from Maharashtra Film directors from Mumbai Photographers from Maharashtra Directors who won the Best Film on Family Welfare National Film Award 20th-century women photographers 21st-century women photographers Women photojournalists