If a film stands the test of time, you know it’s special. Mira Nair’s illustrious filmography boasts of films that continue to fascinate and move you. Think about Salaam Bombay!, The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, to name a few. Articulate and in-depth, her masterclass at MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023 revolved around various crucial topics like cinema crossing borders and not pandering to the West. She also revealed what went behind the making of her initial acclaimed documentaries like So Far from India and India Cabaret, before she moved to fiction filmmaking. Excerpts…

Remembering her documentary ‘India Cabaret’, Nair said, “I wanted to delve into the deep double standards of our patriarchal society where we are quick to judge these women who are strippers. There is a dividing line between the women who are considered proper and those who are outside goodness. It’s to do with sexuality and economics. I didn’t want to work with prostitutes because prostitution is simple to dismiss. I chose the world of dancers. At that time this dance culture was proliferating. I lived with Rekha and Rosy (girls who featured in the docu), in their home at Antop Hill (Mumbai), before I made this documentary. That life, the dark underbelly of Mumbai was extremely bleak, but their spirit was uplifting. Once these girls are off the dance floor, there is a deep sense of modesty. They would cover themselves immediately. I even went to Hyderabad with Rosy when she went to see her ailing mother. The mother took the money and asked her daughter to stay out of the house as she would pollute it with her presence. Life will always be more powerful than fiction.”

She added, “‘So Far from India’, was about a Gujarati man in the US, who was married off in India to a woman called Hansa before he moved to the US. After his son is born, he comes to India but returns to America without taking Hansa along. After watching it, I remember Satyajit Ray telling me, ‘If you would have cast a more attractive woman, he would have taken her back’. (laughs)”

The actress revealed that wanting an audience led her to the world of fiction filmmaking. “I come from Delhi, but Bombay became the subject of my earlier film work because I went and lived in Antop Hill, Bandra chawls. India Cabaret led to Salaam Bombay. I didn’t want actors to play street kids. I remember telling this to Danny Boyle as well when he made Slumdog Millionaire.”

I am not turned on by this portrait of an apologist, third world, we are so poor, kind of cinema. We live in incredibly vibrant places where injustice prevails. I am interested in those layers, juxtaposition of have and have nots. I have rarely entered studios. My life and pulse are the streets. I remember Steven Spielberg asking me, ‘What was the budget of Salaam Bombay! There are so many people in there’. We never compromised on quality even though it was tough to find financiers.

The director is known for telling stories that transcend borders and cultures. She said, “I still have a huge accordion Indian passport, visa dete jao dete jao.. but I deeply understand what it's like to look outside the window in New York City and instead of the Hudson River see my garden in Kampala. Cinema allows you the notion of living between worlds. Always keep your distinctiveness as your calling card. I didn’t want to be a cupcake. I didn’t want to be like everyone else. I didn’t want to make romcoms with white people. I was not interested in being in the A list of Hollywood. Salaam Bombay became a smash hit and they thought they could use my sensibility to say their things and I didn’t want that. I was interested in being a brown person and telling stories that only I could tell and that became Mississippi Masala, the hierarchy of colour.”

Nair credits her instinct as her guiding force. She explained, ‘Don’t ever hold back with the actors. The instinct for me is very powerful. I do not give up until I get what I want from my actors. I am not Woody Allen to reshoot movies. Always listen to your intuition and don’t subscribe to what the next person asks of you. Try to steer clear of boredom and nobility. Just telling the stories of the downtrodden doesn’t sell tickets. The downtrodden are never down. They have the greatest spirit of all. Whatever moves you make it come alive.”