Mira Nair’s cross-cultural films

Mira Nair has made a diverse group of critically acclaimed films. But whether chronicling the lives of a displaced family of Indians from Uganda (1991’s “Mississippi Masala”) or adapting a classic English novel about a social climber (2004’s “Vanity Fair”), the director usually illuminates the troubles outsiders have in integrating into society.

It helps that, in many ways, she’s one herself.

Most directors spend their time in Hollywood among other directors. “That’s why the movies look like they look. They don’t have a worldview,” Miss Nair says on a recent stop in the District. This director splits her time between India (her birthplace), Uganda (the birthplace of her husband) and New York, where her husband teaches at Columbia.

“In ‘The Namesake’ I just wanted to transport people,” says Miss Nair, “so they can see the world without moving an inch.”

That film, in theaters today, is based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel about two generations of Indian immigrants. “The journey of the film from Calcutta to New York is almost exactly the journey I’ve lived,” the 49-year-old director says.

Miss Nair came to America to study at Harvard. Many of her most acclaimed films — like 2001’s “Monsoon Wedding” — explore Indian life. Her next few projects will take her back there.

She’s producing a remake of a Bollywood film. “What I love about Indian films is that unlike any other place in the world, where American films have completely dominated the market, Indian films are so strong and so popular that American films have to lobby for theaters,” she says. “I love that cultural power.”

The films of her homeland are “unabashed entertainment,” she continues. “Beautiful girls. Amazing music. They’re often shot in Europe, so there’s not even a cultural problem there. They’re very easy to understand, whether you’re a child or a German speaker. They’re about good and evil, and good will triumph.”

Her next directorial project is “Shantaram,” starring Johnny Depp, who had the rights to the book by Gregory David Roberts. It’s an autobiographical tale of an Australian heroin addict who escapes from prison, goes to Bombay, and is mistaken for a doctor.

Miss Nair began her career directing documentaries, and she’s making a return to the genre with a feature-length doc on the Beatles’ 1968 trip to India. This was a year of turmoil in the Western world, but the Beatles found the peace in their eight weeks in the country to write about four dozen songs, many of which are classics.

“Everything was happening, and they came to this little hamlet on the Ganges and had time to play and create these things that were amazing and will live eternally,” Miss Nair says. “So I thought this could be a very interesting film about inspiration.”

She hopes to persuade Paul McCartney to go back to India with her. “I think meditation must have helped,” she offers in explanation of the band’s creative spurt. “There was a definite clarity of consciousness which they must have achieved.”

Miss Nair should know. She’s had a yoga teacher on staff for her last six films, and the crew practices the Indian art every morning. “That’s what helps me create this emptiness in my mind so instinct will prevail.”

Miss Nair also has plenty to do in Uganda. Three years ago, she started the Maisha film lab to help East Africans and South Asians learn the craft of filmmaking. “It’s a boot camp for cinema,” she says. “When you see Africa on a screen, it’s always portrayed by a non-African. And I feel if we don’t tell our own stories, no one else will.”

— Kelly Jane Torrance

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