Mira Nair Wins Award

The wife of Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani has won the Best Picture Award at the 58th Venice Film Festival over the weekend, Writes Kalungi Kabuye and Agencies. Mira Nair’s film, Monsoon Wedding, about a noisy and colourful wedding in New Delhi, was awarded the Golden Lion Award, beating 19 other contestants for the coveted award. These included ‘The Others’, starring Nicole Kidman and produced by her ex-husband Tom Cruise “This is one for India, my beloved India, my continuing inspiration,” Nair told the audience as she held out the small Golden Lion statuette. “The film is nothing but a testament to life.” Among Nair’s many products is the 1991 film Mississippi Masala, about an Indian family that was forced to leave Uganda in 1972 on Idi Amin’s orders and moved to the United States. The film, partially filmed on location in Kampala, starred Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington and other local actors, including Teamline’s Michael Wawuyo, who acted as one of Amin’s soldiers. She has made other films including the critically acclaimed Salaam Bombay (1988), and a controversial re-make of Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996). Monsoon Wedding was filmed in less than a month using hand-held cameras, and was also a favourite at the Cannes Film Festival. Nair, who spent several years in Uganda and still visits the country from time to time, is now based in the United States. Ends