Trivia

Was offered the job of directing Harry Potter et l'Ordre du Phénix (2007).

Was inspired to become a filmmaker after seeing Le docteur Jivago (1965) countless times as a young girl in India.

Lost hours of footage for 'Monsoon Wedding' when the negative was shipped to New York and x-rayed.

Teaching in Columbia University's film department (October 2002)

Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990

Dedicated her film L'intégriste malgré lui (2012) to memory of her father Amrit Nair (1924-2012).

Mother, with husband Mahmood Mamdani, of son Zohran Mamdani (b. October 18, 1991).

Her brother, Vicky Nair, is based in Delhi and is opening a street food restaurant in Gurgaon.

Head of jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2002

First read William Makepeace Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair' when she was 16. She would later adapt it into a film.

As of June 2025, her son is currently running for mayor of New York.

Aunt of Ishaan Nair