Paper On Mira Nair

New York based Indian filmmaker, Mira Nair has been a household name in many of cinematic awards as well as humanitarian awards for her directorial works. From Cannes’ Audience Award and Academy Award nomination for her movie Salaam Bombay! (1988) to the UNESCO award for 11’9”01 September 11 -an anthology of film inspired by the tragedy of 9/11. Many of Nair’s work focused on life of Indian immigrants in the United States. Apart from it being relatable to her life (she migrate to the United States for college education at Harvard University at the age of 19), Nair created a different perspective of exoticism through the eyes of these migrant characters that she showcased on her movies while presenting the idea of assimilating into a new culture …show more content…
The camera shifts from one character to another rather quickly and shaky too. This is Nair’s way to introduce the vibrancy of typical large Indian family discussion where the topic never seem to focus on one thing but will go all over the place.
The whiskey and cigar in the scene become a symbol of a wealth and culture in the family and the way for the family to treat their family members who came from United States and the other parts of the world. Although perceived otherwise by Rai, the cigar still becomes the concept of American-ness that Lalit believed as he then proceed to tell Rai about Ria’s plan to go to college in America and assimilate into the American life by studying creative writing and write a book to make a fortune.
However, it was not until 2006 when Nair addressed the issue of assimilation in the wholeness of feature movie. Adapted from a novel by Indian writer Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake is a beautiful story of a Bengali couple who migrated to New York and start a family. The struggle between keeping the Bengali roots and assimilating fully into the American life becomes the central plot that Lahiri addressed in the novel. Nair translated this plot into a wholesome feast of culture shocks and clashes that includes several scenes involving food -Bengali

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