Director Mira Nair, from New York, on Broadway adaptation of Monsoon Wedding, and her next, Queen of Katwe
Mira Nair and Vishal Bhardwaj
Mira Nair and Vishal Bhardwaj
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'Queen of Katwe' is a Disney film. You've been working in the Hollywood studio system for years now, the exact variants of which, and the same suits, operate out of Bollywood as well. Surprising that you haven't made a film from Bombay's Hollywood studio network yet...
'Queen of Katwe' is actually an 'independent' film. And very much 'my' film at its core, set in my front-yard in Kampala, Uganda, where I've been living for 27 years now. When Tendo Nagenda, the Ugandan born vice-president at Disney, came to me with a remarkable story (of chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi) that he'd read in a newspaper article (by Tim Cothers), I didn't know about it, although it took place 16 minutes away from my house. I am inspired by people who make it from nothing. It's the same values that embody Disney, but the style is radically different. Disney has never made a film set in modern-day Africa without animals in them! But they never asked me to sanitise it either. It's truthful, stylish, and about the place.
Also interesting that the crew mainly comprises alumni from Maisha, the film school you've been running from Uganda for 11 years.
Yes, 30 per cent of the Hollywood crew are former students of Maisha. But the most famous alumnus is (the Oscar-winning lead actor) Lupita (Nyong'o), who graduated from our school in 2006.
And you've called it a "100 per cent African film". I'm sorry for harping on this, but we are talking to you from Mumbai. When do we see a "100 per cent Indian film"? We've been missing you since Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding, Mira.
Aa rahee hoon meri jaan! Lo, ab aayi! (I'm coming over soon, my love). The style invented in Monsoon Wedding, we are trying to adapt to Broadway.
Yes, there is much excitement over that!
We've been developing it for nine years, and it opens finally on May 19, 2017, at Berkeley Theatre in California, and then Broadway at the end of next year. Vishal (Bhardwaj) has written the most amazing score, with 21 new songs. Namit Das is the new PK Dubey, and we have a fantastic new actor, Sharvari Deshpande. Others you'll discover soon as the time's right to reveal. We've been through several rounds of rehearsals and workshops over the years, with the fantastic Sabrina Dhawan (original writer of Monsoon Wedding), and the veteran Susan Birkenhead as lyricist.
And you just mentioned this — right from Salaam Bombay to The Reluctant Fundamentalist set in New York, and now 'Queen of Katwe' in Kampala, there appears to be a recurring theme of chronicling the marginalised in places you know. Is that conscious?
I just get inspired by people who focus on what they have, rather than what they don't. That story is eternally inspiring. Also, there is the question of who considers whom the margialised, or the 'other'.
What I'm trying to do (with 'Queen of Katwe') is in a sassy, vibrant way, show the dignity of Kampala, with the confidence of an insider's view. Uganda is the most courteous country in the world. Even with half an inch of water to bathe, you'll find people who look the most stylish. That is inspiring.
A still from Monsoon Wedding
My film is not a picture of utter despair with the white man as the saviour. It is also not a sports genre movie. It is more complex. You can find genius everywhere. But you need a family and society to see it and nourish it. You need a village to help you make it.
The other common theme that one notices, especially while watching your super-serious last film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is an over-arching sense of music — soundtrack, background score — which is true for almost all your films. Does that come from the fact that you happen to be fundamentally an Indian filmmaker?
Happen to be how? I am funda-mentally Indian! Music is such a gift, and I have always breathed it as oxygen. Being Indian allows me to be liberal, with the use of music.
Mira on the sets of 'Queen of Katwe'
With Salaam Bombay that I re-watched recently, I discovered that you have to use silence in equal measure. Music is often the seed of the movies I want to make. In Reluctant Fundamentalist, the 'qawaal' world of north India hit the nerve, given what Mohsin (Hamid) had written.
The Oscar season has just begun, and I've been reading blogs about how 'Queen of Katwe' could be the perfect Oscar bait. It checks all the right boxes: it's a biopic, has a stellar cast, and pardon the expression — not mine — it's a tear-jerker! Would you agree?
Arre yar, apan ka kaam hai banana! (My job is to make). Hope the film rides a wave, not for any (Oscar) bait at all. But to capture people's hearts. And the (Academy) votes? Well, that won't be a bad thing. I want bums on seats. The film received an enthusiastic reception at Toronto (film festival). I'm now trying to be calm amid the hoopla!
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