Nandita Das | WatchedThis
Nandita Das
Acting
Biography
Nandita Das is an actor and director, one of the leading figures in the Indian film industry. She has acted in more than 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das has been acclaimed for numerous performances, including in Fire (1996), Earth (1998), Bawandar (2000), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Azhagi (2002), Kamli (2006), and Before The Rains (2007). Her directorial debut was with Firaaq (2008), which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, traveled to more than 50 festivals, and won more than 20 awards.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Fire
In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.
Earth
It's 1947 and the borderlines between India and Pakistan are being drawn. A young girl bears witnesses to tragedy as her ayah is caught between the love of two men and the rising tide of political and religious violence.
Kannathil Muthamittal
A little girl is told by her parents that she is adopted. Determined to find her birth mother, her family eventually agrees to take her to Sri Lanka, where they encounter the militant group known as the Tamil Tigers.
Provoked: A True Story
Provoked is the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a Punjabi woman who moved to London after her marriage with Deepak Ahluwalia. Her husband seemed caring at first but then began to beat her up. He started drinking a lot and sleeping around with other women. he also subjected her to spousal rape. After ten years and having two children with him, out of fear, she sets him on fire.
I Am
I Am is a 2011 Indian anthology film by Onir. It consists of four short films: "Omar", "Afia", "Abhimanyu", and "Megha". Each film shares the common theme of fear and each is also based on real life stories. The film was financed by donations from more than 400 different people around the world, many of whom donated through social networking sites like Facebook. There are four stories but the characters are interwoven with each story. "Abhimanyu" is based on child abuse, "Omar" on gay rights, "Megha" is about Kashmiri Pandits and "Afia" deals with sperm donation. I Am was released with subtitles in all regions as six different languages are spoken in the film: Hindi, English, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and Kashmiri.
Daughters of This Century
This film is based on five shot stories of Rabindranath Tagore's Jibito O Mrito, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Abhagir Swarga, Gour Kishore Ghosh's Aei Daha, Prafulla Roy's Satgharia and Dibyendu Palit's Kaanch.
Aks
On the trail of an underworld contract killer, a dedicated police officer is thrust into a battle between good vs evil.
Four Women
A drama centered around four women at Kuttanad in Kerala's Alappuzha district.
Neerparavai
A skeleton is found at the home of Esther (Nandita Das), whose fisherman husband Arulappasamy (Vishnu) has been missing for the past 25 years. Esther confesses that it was she who murdered her husband but when Agnes (Varsha), the cop assigned to the case, lends a sympathetic ear, she narrates a heart wrenching tale of a loving family ruined by the politics of territorial waters.
Punaradhivasam
In a world where the meaning of love and relationships is dwindling, a father-son duo, a married woman and a family's daughter-in-law struggle to accept the reality.
Production
Listen To Her
The film is a spontaneous response to the irony of “STAY HOME, STAY SAFE” for millions of women in India and around the world. The film is adding its voice to a conversation that is much needed in the public space. It reminds us that speaking up is only possible when women know that there is someone listening. This pandemic has taught us that our lives are deeply intertwined, and so we must respond to the realities beyond ours.
Listen To Her
The film is a spontaneous response to the irony of “STAY HOME, STAY SAFE” for millions of women in India and around the world. The film is adding its voice to a conversation that is much needed in the public space. It reminds us that speaking up is only possible when women know that there is someone listening. This pandemic has taught us that our lives are deeply intertwined, and so we must respond to the realities beyond ours.
Listen To Her
The film is a spontaneous response to the irony of “STAY HOME, STAY SAFE” for millions of women in India and around the world. The film is adding its voice to a conversation that is much needed in the public space. It reminds us that speaking up is only possible when women know that there is someone listening. This pandemic has taught us that our lives are deeply intertwined, and so we must respond to the realities beyond ours.
In Defence Of Freedom
This short film is literally a conglomeration of all the beautiful dialogues that were said by Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the feature film Manto(2018) by Nandita Das.
Zwigato
Manas, an ex-factory floor manager loses his job during the pandemic. He is then forced to work as a food delivery rider, grappling with the app and the world of ratings and incentives. Life is relentless for him, but not without shared moments of joy with his wife, Pratima. The film captures the life of invisible 'ordinary' people, hidden in plain sight.
Zwigato
Manas, an ex-factory floor manager loses his job during the pandemic. He is then forced to work as a food delivery rider, grappling with the app and the world of ratings and incentives. Life is relentless for him, but not without shared moments of joy with his wife, Pratima. The film captures the life of invisible 'ordinary' people, hidden in plain sight.
Zwigato
Manas, an ex-factory floor manager loses his job during the pandemic. He is then forced to work as a food delivery rider, grappling with the app and the world of ratings and incentives. Life is relentless for him, but not without shared moments of joy with his wife, Pratima. The film captures the life of invisible 'ordinary' people, hidden in plain sight.
Firaaq
Firaaq is an Urdu word that means both separation and quest. The film is a work of fiction, based on a thousand stories. The story is set over a 24-hour period, one month after a campaign that took place in Gujarat, India, in 2002. It traces the emotional journey of ordinary people- some who were victims, some perpetrators and some who choose to watch silently.
Manto
In Bombay's seedy-shiny film world, Manto and his stories are widely read and accepted. But as sectarian violence engulfs the nation, Manto makes the difficult choice of leaving his beloved Bombay. In Lahore, he finds himself bereft of friends and unable to find takers for his writings.
Imprint in Clay
“Sardar Gurcharan Singh was the father of studio pottery in India. "Daddyji" as most called him lovingly was very close to my father. I often tagged along to visit his home studio where pottery wheels were lined up under the big neem trees in his old brick house. My father wanted me to make a film on Daddyji, who was then 95. He was afraid that Daddyji's wonderful story would be left untold. He not only introduced studio pottery in India but due to his longevity, mentored many potters. So despite not knowing anything about films, I made the documentary, Imprint in Clay with a classmate of mine, which was mostly funded by my father.”
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