Twenty-five years ago, Mira Nair’s film “Salaam Bombay!” became one of the first Indian films to hit the global scene. In the film, Nair, who believes the truth is more interesting and sometimes even stranger than fiction, focused on the lives of street children in India. She used the profits of her film to found the Salaam Balaak Trust, an organization that now provides a safe haven for 5,000 children in India each year.
Nair was the speaker for the annual David P. Gardner Lecture at Kingsbury Hall on Wednesday. In her speech, she shared her experiences about and firm conviction to create art rooted in a sense of identity.
Throughout her career, the writer, producer and director has been successful in the worlds of independent and Hollywood film. She was even asked to direct “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” but turned it down, at the advice of her 14-year-old son, who happened to be a fan of the series.
“Mama, many good directors can make ‘Harry Potter,’ ” he said. “But only you can make ‘The Namesake.’ ”
At the time, she was in the pre-production stage for “The Namesake,” which she had decided to film after reading the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri after her mother-in-law’s death.
Nair’s films have won many awards, such as the Prix du Publique at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe. She believes that she has a clear pathway to follow in her filmmaking.
“If we don’t tell our own stories, no one else will tell them,” Mair said.
That path is not always easy. Mair has turned down Hollywood contracts and was once denied funding because she did not include a white protagonist in the film Mississippi Masala. The film turned out anyway, and it starred a young Denzel Washington.
Mair’s belief that everyone has to tell their own story is the motto of Maisha, a film school she founded in East Africa. Today, she sees film as a way to jump over barriers and reveal humanity.
“Now more than ever, I think, we need cinema to reveal our … worlds in all their little particularities,” she said.
It is often in the tiniest details that the relatable human quality of a film comes out, according to Nair. Her film “Monsoon Wedding” epitomized this belief. She shot the film on a low budget in just 30 days. Many of the 68 actors were her own family members.
“They were absolutely free,” Nair said.
So were most of the props. The authentic costumes, art and the jewelry in the film all belong to Nair’s family.
Though she is an internationally acclaimed director, Nair wants to be known for her roots, not her wings.
“The great gift of being Indian is that my roots are deeply imbedded,” she said. “I want my work to be defined not by its flight, but by its roots.”
Kartik Verma, a doctorate student in economics, particularly liked Nair’s focus on identity.
“It’s a burning question that I really think of a lot,” Verma said. “I really liked her views on the subject.”