Women behind the lens

Rahul and Kankona in Aparna's Mr & Mrs Iyer

Here is a review of the work of Aparna Sen and Mira Nair

Aparna Sen: Aparna started as an actress with early films such as Aparajita, Paroma and Bombay Talkies. Her first directorial venture was 36, Chowringhee Lane which depicted the loneliness of an aging Ango-Indian woman (played by the late Jennifer Kapoor). The film won the Grand Prix at the Manila International Film Festival and the National Award for Best Direction in India.

Aparna has been behind the camera with other films such as the recent Mr and Mrs Iyer and Paromitar Ek Din. The former, which has won plaudits, tells the story of the havoc of fundamentalism. The protagonists are Rahul Bose and Aparna's daughter Konkona Sen. Set in a bus journey, the characters are thrown together. Some meet an unfortunate end but the wildlife photographer and a married Tamilian Brahmin pull through because of the deft protection of the former by Konkona, the mother of a small child.

To her numerous achievements, Aparna adds another oneas editor of Sananda, West Bengal's highest circulated women's magazine.

Mira Nair: This talented filmmaker has a string of hits to her credit. There's Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala, Kama Sutra and Monsoon Wedding among others. Saalam Bombay captures the horrific life of homeless children who eke out a living on the streets. Awarded the prestigious Camera d'Or at Cannes for the best feature film and the Prix du Publique for the most popular entry at the Cannes Film Festival, this work launched Mira into the international film world.

Then came Mississippi Masala, an interracial love story set in the American South and Uganda. Starring Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury and Roshan Seth, the backdrop for this film is the early 1970s, when dictator Idi Amin of Uganda seized the property of the Asians and ex-pelled them from this country. Moving to Mississippi, Choudhury and Washington develop a relationshipmuch to the consternation of the Asian-Indian and the African-American communities.

Mira's new projects are Tony Kushner's Homebody/ Kabul for HBO and Hari Kunzru's The Impressionist. She also plans to take the popular Monsoon Wedding to Broadway.

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent