Nandita Das to receive French honour

Actor-director Nandita Das will be conferred with the French honour Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contribution to the development of Indo-French cooperation in the field of cinema. French Ambassador Jerôme Bonnafont will confer the distinction on Nandita who is known for her critically acclaimed performances in films like ‘Fire’, ‘Earth’ and ‘Bawander’. After staying in front of the camera and proving her mettle as an actress, Nandita went behind the camera in 2008 to direct ‘Firaaq’, a political thriller about aftermath of 2002 Gujarat violence. Nandita also received recognition at the film festivals of Santa Monica (2001), Cairo (2002), and Madrid (2007). In 2005, she served as a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival. The French honour is conferred on persons who have distinguished themselves by their creativity in the field of art, culture and literature or for their contribution to the influence of arts in France and throughout the world. It has previously been conferred to actor Shah Rukh Khan, photographer Raghu Rai, the late theatre actor Habib Tanveer and Bengali author Upamanyu Chatterjee.

Nandita Das dating industrialist Subodh Maskara

So what if Nandita Das got divorced twice!! “Once smitten twice shy” doesn’t seem to hold much meaning for method actor Nandita, for the recently divorced actress has decided to move on. According to buzz world, Nandita is now seeing Subodh Maskara, a Mumbai based industrialist. The couple is also said to be looking at buying a home together and have been spotted looking at various flats in Worli area. Nandita, who had married her long time friend Soumya Sen some years back, divorced him due to unknown reasons. Her marriage with Subodh was a second one for both. The 40 year old Nandita is presently keeping a low profile.

Firaaq in India- Nandita Das makes directorial debut

Nandita Das has been associated with off-beat and meaningful cinema as an actress and has done a good job. Now she is putting her directorial skills to test in Firaaq. The movie is packed with some of the legends of Bollywood - Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal and Deepti Naval which is a dream team to work with and they too seem completely impressed by the first time director.

"The film is actually set one month after the Gujarat riots. So the film is not in the thick of the violence, there is no violence at all,” says Nandita Das.

Firaaq revolves around the Gujarat genocide of 2002 and gives an insight into how violence could affect our inner and outer lives. The movie has received accepted globally in several festivals including the Toronto and London Film Festival and was recently awarded the Best Film at the Kara Film Festival in Karachi, Pakistan.

The team hopes their film gets a similar response back home as well.

Nandita Das comes with Ramchand Pakistani

Nandita Das is arriving with a new film by a Pakistani director which has a cross border theme. Nandita is excited about her upcoming film Ramchand Pakistani which is Pakistani TV director Mehreen Jabbar’s maiden venture.

“It’s a story of a seven-year-old Dalit boy Ramchand. This boy and his father cross the border and the film talks about their experiences thereafter. I would say that Mehreen has really done a fabulous job and full justice to the subject.” says Nandita.

Nandita, who is also a little nervous about her performance, informs, “I am playing the role of Ramchand’s mother in the film. Playing the role of a mother was an entirely different experience all together.”

What about interacting with a Pakistani crew? “It was wonderful. They treated me like a member of their family. I love Pakistan and the Pakistani people. Before shooting I was a little worried but once I was there, I found no difference between India and Pakistan.”

“The film is about the relation between two countries which had been divided decades earlier. Mehreen has tried to show the feelings that one country has for another. Ramchand Pakistani is a film that is based on both Pakistan and India. I hope that the film gets a proper release and that the audiences of both the countries like it”, says Nandita, explaining how the film is different from other Pakistani films.