Often times when the American public thinks of
Indian made films, they think of Bollywood, loud songs, dance numbers, and
bright colors. Mira Nair is part of a growing genre of Indian directors who are
creating Indian films incorporating serious issues and social complexities into
entertaining stories without the song and dance (for the most part excluding
Monsoon Wedding). In contrast with the typical Bollywood films, Nair’s projects
are rich with emotion. In the past, this passionate filmmaker has turned down
opportunities to work on movies that are anticipated box office hits, such as
Harry Potter, which use special effects and do often become commercially
successful. Nair explained, “I am better
suited to emotions and less interested in special effects”. In her article, ‘Women Make Movies’, Debra
Zimmerman writes “The style these women are working in, the fact that the
content is more important than using special effects – it’s real male and
female kind of stuff – the fact that they’re political through personal kinds
of things…”
Some of Mira Nair’s most successful works include Salaam
Bombay! (1988), Mississippi Masala (1993), Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996),
Monsoon Wedding (2001), Vanity Fair (2004), and The Namesake (2006). She has
been recognized for her accomplishments with award nominations and wins,
including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for Monsoon Wedding, an
Independent Spirit Award for best feature, the Academy Awards, Golden Globes,
BAFTA Awards, and Filmfare Award. Considering how few women are directors or
producers in the film industry, to have worked on so many productions is rather
impressive.
Mira Nair’s thought provoking films and work as an auteur
often tell the story of the ‘other’, usually a woman, or the outsider. “Gynocriticism is a way of assessing works of art
specifically in relation to the interests and desires of women. As Donovan
points out, it involves a separate female way of thinking and a recognition
that women's experience has been effectively silenced by a masculine culture.
This response to that silencing is a new epistemology which creates or uncovers
a newly visible world of female culture’ opening up and sharing this world with
women readers/viewers." (Humm, 95) Nair
‘s films typically deliver social messages that challenge the norm and push
boundaries with the goal of bringing public awareness to social situations
which are all too often swept under the rug. Taboo issues such as child
marriage, social inequality, female sexuality, finding a home, discrimination
against poorer classes of society, incest, abuse, infidelity, and the struggles
of Indian families adapting to Western culture in America are just some of the
subjects incorporated into the stories she is able to tell/direct so
brilliantly.
Nair has a way of weaving social situations and
historical events into her films in such a way that the entertainment value is
not lost and audiences are challenged to think about how they can make a
difference in the world we live in. Mira Nair’s forte is that she does not
present one point of view as better than another. In an unbiased fashion Nair portrays
situations as they are, not as how she would like them to be. They are not
always happy stories and there are not always happy endings. Nair leaves it up
to the viewers in the audience to examine and become aware of the situations
depicted and then decide which aspect of those situations they want to follow. Bell
Hooks further explains precisely what Mira Nair aims to do through her work, “Movies
not only provide a narrative for specific discourses of race, sex, and class,
they provide a shared experience, a common starting point from which diverse
audiences can dialogue about these charged issues.”
As a first generation American whose parents are
from India, I have often struggled with my cultural identity. While growing up
my parents and grandparents have always said and encouraged me to “marry a nice
Indian boy”. They usually go on to suggest that he should be a doctor who comes
from a good family. Over the years they have explained to me that the reason
for this sort of encouragement to marry within the community is that they want
to see their daughter in a long lasting successful and monogamous marriage with
someone who grew up with the same values as I have. In America, divorce is so
common it’s almost normal by today’s standards. Divorcing in India is a rarity.
But my family was the only Indian family in my hometown, so how was I ever
going to find that ‘nice Indian boy’? Nair’s film ‘Mississippi Masala’ explores
interracial love between a young Indian woman and a black man and the chaos
that erupted when their families discovered that they were in a relationship.
In the Indian culture family structure, tradition and customs are very
important. I found Nair’s depiction of the struggles between Americanized
children and their traditional families to be accurate and relatable.
Mira Nair's ability to address traditional, cultural, and sociological issues in the films is not only done well but also done fearlessly. “This kind of gynocritcism can provide ‘a validating social witness that will enable women today and in the future, to see, to express, to name their own truths’ (Humm, 110).
Works Cited:
http://movies.nytimes.com/person/103995/Mira-Nair
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