http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=221999

Home> Mumbai> Talk Tuesday , February 13, 2007


Roots

The filmmaker promises to re-explore Mumbai

Suruchi Mazumdar

Mumbai, February 12: Are you Bengali?” Mira Nair guesses right, as I introduce myself and congratulate her on The Namesake, post a private screening at Famous Studios on Saturday. The director, currently in the city, is shooting for a short film on AIDS. But that doesn’t stop her from meeting the first set of her audience in Mumbai.

The Bong connection certainly touches a chord. The Tabu-starrer releases in March and narrates the journey of a Bengali family which migrates to Manhattan. Nair, an NRI, has vivid memories of her childhood in Kolkata and is evidently emotional as the screening ends. I compliment her on the actors’ getting the accent right. “Yes, we had to work very hard towards it,” she smiles.



With her forthcoming Shantaram, Nair promises to return to the other city she loves, Mumbai, this time with the maverick Johnny Depp for company.

“I was born and raised in Orissa but we visited Kolkata every summer for 12 years,” she reminisces. “I almost share the experiences of Ashima Ganguli in the film. As I gaze at the George Washington Bridge and Hudson River from my Manhattan apartment, I remember Howrah bridge and the Ganges,” she adds, offering samosas and soft drinks to guests Sooni Taraporevala and Atul Kulkarni.

However, she doesn’t forget to shower praises on actor Kal Penn, who plays Gogol. “Initially I had thought of casting a younger actor to portray Gogol in his teenage years. But Kal is such a terrific actor and his physicality is such that I had to retain him. He has almost become a cult figure in New Jersey,” adds Nair.

Nair, who leaves this Wednesday, promises to be back in March with Shantaram. And, as if to prepare herself, she is busy soaking in the city’s sights.

The next evening we catch her at Rhythm House with the Kala Ghoda Festival in full swing outside. Her next stop, she tells me, is the Jehangir Art Gallery. But not before stocking up on CDs and DVDs.