ABP Network Ideas Of India 2023: Academy-award nominated filmmaker Mra Nair and actor-director Nandita Das sat down to discuss many aspects of filmmaking, their journeys at the second edition of ABP Network's Ideas of India. They spoke in the Director's Cut: Telling Original Stories session which was moderated by host Veer Sanghvi.


Mira Nair also spoke about her filmography and Nandita Das discussed in detail why she chose to cast comedian Kapil Sharma as the lead in her film ‘Zwigato’, among other things.


Mira Nair began the session by talking about her journey which  began as an actor and later, organically moved into filmmaking. Mira also spoke about the difficulties of making her first film ‘Salaam Bombay!’.


Salaam Bombay!


She recalled how she got a grant from NDFC in India and Channel Four in the UK and ‘blew the entire 300,000 on 35 mm cameras and equipment’. Mira added that she did not want ‘Salaam Bombay’ to look-feel like ‘because it comes from the third world, it is out of focus’. 


Sharing how difficult it was to finish the film because they had run out of funds by the end of it, Mira said, “We would shoot the film in the morning and then call people for funds at night.” 


Later adding that when ‘Salaam Bombay’ was completed and doing the rounds in film festival circuits, the film won an award at the Cannes Film Festival and an amount of 50,000, the exact amount she was in debt of. 


Mira Nair also revealed that with the profits of ‘Salaam Bombay’, they made a trust called the ‘Salaam Baalak’ for the street children of Mumbai which even 38 years after the film, continues to do well.


Mira also shared that she had suggested Danny Boyle to make use of the resources at the Salaam Wala trust for setting up a film like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ in India. However, the latter chose to go the other way.


Zwigato & Why Kapil Sharma


When it came to Nandita Das, she opened up about her latest feature film ‘Zwigato’ starring Kapil Sharma. Addressing the most commonly asked question as to why she chose Kapil Sharma, Nandita revealed that Kapil had also asked her over the phone, “ Aapne mere bare mein kaise socha is role ko leke ( How did you think of me for this role)”.


The actor-filmmaker said she had never before seen Kapil’s show but she had seen him present an award with filmmaker-producer Karan Johar. It was then that Nandita realized that he was ‘ordinary’ looking and ‘vulnerable’, most suited for the role of the lead in her film.  Nandita added that with Kapil cracking jokes about the most mundane and ordinary things in life, and being in touch with all that, she thought he fit his part perfectly. Only that the ‘Punjabiness’ had to be taken out completely. To this, Kapil Sharma agreed as he told her that he was once a ‘very serious actor’.


Nandita later added that the collaboration of two people from two different worlds was quite fruitful. Sharing that when the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, people stormed in to see ‘The Kapil Sharma in the movie’ but after sometime said ‘they forgot who Kapil Sharma was’. And, that became the biggest compliment for the storyteller and the actor.


Content & Form


Nandita Das also threw light on the importance of story driving the form rather than the form driving the content/story of the film. The ‘Manto’ actor opened up about how many films these days look well shot and delivered in terms of the form but when it comes to storytelling, they fail. The ‘Firaq’ director added that for her films as well, it was the story that drove the form of the film. 


On Irrfan Khan


Mira Nair opened up on her equation with actor Irrfan Khan and called him a lifelong friend. She recalled how she first met Irrfan at the National School of Drama, where she thought he had great potential and almost took him for ‘Salaam Bombay!’


However, with his height and being unable to fit in with the kids in the film, Irrfan was only part of one scene. 


Over the years, Irrfan collaborated with Mira on several short film projects but it was not until ‘Namesake’, some 15 years later, that he got a chance to work with her. And, from then on, Irrfan became known for his craft internationally, shared Mira.


On Riz Ahmed & Fawad Khan


Mira Nair’s critically-acclaimed work ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ was also a topic of discussion. The veteran spoke about how Pakistani actor Fawad Khan auditioned for six months for the role but because ‘he had always lived in Lahore’ and did not have a sense of ‘worldliness’, the role was given to Riz Ahmed. 


Mira Nair complimented Riz Ahmed’s ‘scathing intelligence’ and a sense of ‘worldliness’ which most suited the role and part he played in the political-thriller film.


Mira Nair On Unique Casting Process


The Indian-American filmmaker is known for her unique casting process. Having been an actor herself, many actors in Mira’s films are newcomers with no background in cinema.


Elaborating on her unique casting process, Mira recalled an incident from the shooting of ‘Monsoon Wedding’ when a female actor did not turn up. So, when Mira was taking a walk in a park in Vasant Vihar ( Delhi), she saw a woman in a salwar kameez and sneakers. The director talked to her and walked home with her, only to later offer her the part of Shashi Aunty.


Shashi Aunty was played by Kamini Khanna. After the BAFTA award-winning ‘Monsoon Wedding’, Kamini moved to Mumbai and portrayed the role of Shashi Aunty in 10 different Bollywood films, Mira revealed.


Mira Nair also spoke about her latest ‘Monsoon Wedding’ Broadway musical which will premiere in New York City. She suggested the reason why she was making ‘Monsoon Wedding’ into a Broadway stage drama was because she was ‘tired of seeing white people on stage’.


Having worked on it for more than 12 years now, the musical, which has been composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, will open in New York City on May 13 this year and perhaps be in India by early next year.


Mira Nair’s next project is a film on the contemporary Indian woman painter Amrita Shergil.


Ideas Of India Is Back 


ABP Network Ideas Of India Summit is back for its second edition. On February 24 and 25, eminent personalities from all walks of life will share their thoughts on pertinent topics and issues, ranging from climate catastrophe to India’s position as a new global power player.  


This year's speakers will share their thoughts on what constitutes ‘Naya India’, and how our country, now the fifth-largest economy, can position itself as a developed nation by 2047, marking 100 years of independence. 


This year, the ABP Network Ideas Of India summit — co-presented by Dabur Vedic Tea and co-powered by Dr Ortho, Gallant Advance, and Rajesh Masala (driven by Maruti Suzuki and with tech partner Panasonic) — will see notable speakers such as Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Minister Of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, musical artists Bickram Ghosh and Shubha Mudgal, authors Amitav Ghosh and Devdutt Pattanaik, actresses Sara Ali Khan, Yami Gautam, Asha Parekh and Zeenat Aman, actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Manoj Vajpayee, celebrity chef Vikas Khanna, sports stars Jwala Gupta and Vinesh Phogat, and many more.