Mira Nair

Mira Nair
Mira Nairis an Indian American filmmaker based in New York. 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, The Namesake, the Golden Lion-winning Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay!, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth15 October 1957
CountryIndia
Americans are not used to being bombed in their beds, but if you come from anywhere outside America, it's not highly unusual.
I always like to reveal the fact that the emperor has no clothes. And children are best at that. They teach us how to see the world in that sense. They are without artifice; they see it for what it is. I am drawn to that ruthless honesty.
My films, no one else will do.
Never take no for answer, and try to make films that turn you on.
I've loved 'Vanity Fair' since I was 16 years old. You know, we're all colonial hangovers in India, steeped in English literature. It is one of these novels that I read under the covers at my convent boarding school in Simla.
It is because my roots are so strong that I can fly.
Bollywood actors are so set in what they want, and the way they want it. And why shouldn't they be? But it is not the same in Hollywood, because the love of the audience is not the same.
Post 9/11, so much has changed in New York that it does not give you that homely feeling which it did before.
It took me three years to learn to dress in the American way, especially in winter. That was just like me. I barely wear socks even now.
I grew up in a very small town which is remote even by Indian standards. I always dreamed of the world.
I want to question what the outside is and who defines it. I often find those that are considered to be on the outside extremely inspiring.
I know what it's like to be in one place and dream of another. I also know what it's like to feel that nostalgia is a fairly useless thing because it is stasis.
Every film is a political act; it's how you see the world.
Marriage of attraction is a gamble anyway, so you might as well marry into a family that is similar to your own, and make that much less of an adjustment. But the 'love marriage', as it is called, is equally common in India now. But it would be interesting to do a comparison of what would work better. Marriage is hard work, and it is a gamble.