Who is Mira Nair, Zohran Mamdani's mom? Everything to know about the director
- - Who is Mira Nair, Zohran Mamdani's mom? Everything to know about the director
Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY November 10, 2025 at 4:31 AM
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The next mayor of New York City is also the son of an acclaimed filmmaker, who has worked with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival and once turned down an offer to helm a "Harry Potter" installment.
New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's mother is the Indian-American director Mira Nair, whose films have starred A-listers such as Reese Witherspoon to Denzel Washington.
Her feature film directorial debut was 1988's "Salaam Bombay!," which centered on children living on the streets of India. In a rave, four-star review at the time, film critic Roger Ebert wrote that Nair "has been able to make a film that has the everyday, unforced reality of documentary, and yet the emotional power of great drama," declaring it one of the year's best movies.
At the 1989 Academy Awards, "Salaam Bombay!" was nominated for the Oscar for best foreign language film.
Zohran Mamdani departs with his mother Mira Nair after delivering remarks at his election night watch party at the Brooklyn Paramount on NOv. 4, 2025, in Brooklyn.What movies has the mother of Zohran Mamdani worked on?
Nair followed the movie up in 1991 with "Mississippi Masala," a romance starring Washington that explored the expulsion of the Indian minority from Uganda during the reign of Idi Amin. While she was conducting research for the film, Nair met author and academic Mahmood Mamdani. They married in 1991 and welcomed their son, Zohran Mamdani, in October of that year.
Her next movie, 1995's "The Perez Family," starred Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina and Anjelica Huston in a story about Cuban refugees, and she subsequently directed Naveen Andrews and Sarita Choudhury in the historical romance "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love" in 1997.
In 2001, Nair's film "Monsoon Wedding," which revolved around a wedding ceremony in Delhi, was awarded the prestigious Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.
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Nair went on to direct Uma Thurman and Gena Rowlands in the HBO film "Hysterical Blindness," Reese Witherspoon in the historical drama "Vanity Fair," and Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart in the biographical drama "Amelia."
Mira Nair attends the Better World Fund Gala 2025 red carpet at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Carlton Hotel on May 20, 2025, in Cannes, France.What Mira Nair has said about son Zohran Mamdani
In 2013, Nair's film "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," starring Riz Ahmed, explored xenophobia in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013 that while her son usually "doesn't like me being away" for months at a time to make movies, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" was the one film where "he said, 'Mamma, you can make" it. Nair also described her son as "my oxygen, my fuel" while directing the film.
Nair's most recent movie was 2016's "Queen of Katwe," the story of a Ugandan chess player starring David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong'o. Zohran Mamdani made a small appearance in the film, served as third assistant director and music supervisor, and performed a rap song for the soundtrack.
Nair was also an executive producer on the 2022 Disney+ series "National Treasure: Edge of History" and directed the show's first episode.
Zohran Mamdani's mother almost directed a 'Harry Potter' movie
In a 2018 appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Nair revealed she turned down an offer to direct a "Harry Potter" movie to make her 2007 film "The Namesake" instead because the latter's story of "losing a parent in a foreign country" was more personal to her.
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According to Nair, Mamdani, a teenager at the time, gave her advice that convinced her she should pass on directing the fourth "Potter" movie.
"I was almost a month away from shooting 'The Namesake,' and they offered me 'Harry Potter,'' Nair said. "I thought I had to take these meetings because my son had learned to read from 'Harry Potter.' I went to several meetings and I was in the throes of it, and I was very troubled to (have to) give up my own film. I asked my 14-year-old son, Zohran, 'What should I do?' And he said to me, 'Mama, many good directors can make 'Harry Potter,' but only you can make 'The Namesake.'"
Candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference while campaigning outside a Subway station in New York City, April 1, 2025. Mamdani (D-NY) was announced as the winner of the Democratic nomination for mayor in a crowded field in the City’s mayoral primary to choose a successor to Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election on an independent ticket.
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Candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference while campaigning outside a Subway station in New York City, April 1, 2025. Mamdani (D-NY) was announced as the winner of the Democratic nomination for mayor in a crowded field in the City’s mayoral primary to choose a successor to Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election on an independent ticket.
">Candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference while campaigning outside a Subway station in New York City, April 1, 2025. Mamdani (D-NY) was announced as the winner of the Democratic nomination for mayor in a crowded field in the City’s mayoral primary to choose a successor to Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election on an independent ticket.
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1 / 20See moments from Zohran Mamdani's campaign for New York City mayor
Candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference while campaigning outside a Subway station in New York City, April 1, 2025. Mamdani (D-NY) was announced as the winner of the Democratic nomination for mayor in a crowded field in the City’s mayoral primary to choose a successor to Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election on an independent ticket.
Nair added that this was "such a liberating and clarifying statement," which has informed "how I have lived my life."
During a joint conversation with The New York Times published in June, Nair and her husband, Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani, had differing views on whether their work had influenced their son's worldview. While Mahmood Mamdani stressed that "he's his own person," Nair told the Times, "Of course, the world we live in, and what we write and film and think about, is the world that Zohran has very much absorbed." The parents both told the outlet, though, that their son has not sought political advice from them.
In a recent conversation published by Vogue India, Nair said she is "amazed" by her son's "bravery and articulation," adding, "My mother was quoted at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, where 'Salaam Bombay!' was being screened, saying, 'I'm the producer of the director.' And now I say, 'I'm the producer of the candidate."
For his part, Mamdani said in an Instagram post for Mother's Day 2025 that his mom "brought me into this world, helped me understand it, and taught me 'if we don't tell our own stories, no one else will.'"
Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to know about Mira Nair, director and mother of Zohran Mamdani
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
