Sooni Taraporevala (born in 1957) is an internationally acclaimed
screenwriterScreenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made....
and
photographerA photographer is a person who takes photographs using a camera. A professional photographer uses photography to make a living whilst an amateur photographer does not earn a living and typically takes photographs for pleasure and to record an event, place or person for future enjoyment.A...
, currently based in India. She is best known as the screenwriter of
Mississippi MasalaMississippi Masala is a romance comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, starring Denzel Washington, Sharmila Tagore, and Roshan Seth. The film explores interracial romance between African-Americans and Indian-Americans in the United States, and takes...
,
The NamesakeThe Namesake is a film which was released in the United States on March 9, 2007, following screenings at film festivals in Toronto and New York City. It was directed by Mira Nair and is based upon the novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri, who appeared in the movie. Sooni Taraporevala adapted...
and Oscar-nominated
Salaam Bombay, all directed by
Mira NairMira Nair is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! , won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination...
.
She directed her first feature film, based on a screenplay of her own, an ensemble piece set in Bombay, in Spring, 2007, entitled "
Little ZizouLittle Zizou is an 2009 Indian film in Hindi, Gujarati, and English, written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala.-Plot:Little Zizou is a fast-paced, exuberant, yet poignant comedy about how two battling Mumbai families finally come to terms...
."
Taraporevala, who is of Parsi
ZoroastrianA Zoroastrian is an adherent to Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic religion that is based on the teachings and philosophies of Zoroaster....
descent, resides in
MumbaiMumbai, formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city proper is the most-populous in the world, with approximately 14 million inhabitants. Along with the neighbouring suburbs of Navi Mumbai and Thane, it forms the world's 4th largest urban agglomeration, with around...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
.
Sooni Taraporevala (born in 1957) is an internationally acclaimed
screenwriterScreenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made....
and
photographerA photographer is a person who takes photographs using a camera. A professional photographer uses photography to make a living whilst an amateur photographer does not earn a living and typically takes photographs for pleasure and to record an event, place or person for future enjoyment.A...
, currently based in India. She is best known as the screenwriter of
Mississippi MasalaMississippi Masala is a romance comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, starring Denzel Washington, Sharmila Tagore, and Roshan Seth. The film explores interracial romance between African-Americans and Indian-Americans in the United States, and takes...
,
The NamesakeThe Namesake is a film which was released in the United States on March 9, 2007, following screenings at film festivals in Toronto and New York City. It was directed by Mira Nair and is based upon the novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri, who appeared in the movie. Sooni Taraporevala adapted...
and Oscar-nominated
Salaam Bombay, all directed by
Mira NairMira Nair is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! , won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination...
.
She directed her first feature film, based on a screenplay of her own, an ensemble piece set in Bombay, in Spring, 2007, entitled "
Little ZizouLittle Zizou is an 2009 Indian film in Hindi, Gujarati, and English, written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala.-Plot:Little Zizou is a fast-paced, exuberant, yet poignant comedy about how two battling Mumbai families finally come to terms...
."
Background
Taraporevala, who is of Parsi
ZoroastrianA Zoroastrian is an adherent to Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic religion that is based on the teachings and philosophies of Zoroaster....
descent, resides in
MumbaiMumbai, formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city proper is the most-populous in the world, with approximately 14 million inhabitants. Along with the neighbouring suburbs of Navi Mumbai and Thane, it forms the world's 4th largest urban agglomeration, with around...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. She graduated from
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
(where she met Nair as an undergraduate, leading to their longtime creative collaboration). She later attended
New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
as a graduate student.
Collaboration with Mira Nair
Ms. Taraporevala wrote the screenplays for
Salaam Bombay and
Mississippi MasalaMississippi Masala is a romance comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, starring Denzel Washington, Sharmila Tagore, and Roshan Seth. The film explores interracial romance between African-Americans and Indian-Americans in the United States, and takes...
, both directed by
Mira NairMira Nair is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! , won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination...
. Interestingly, the final drafts of both these films were written in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, NY. Other projects with Nair include the screenplay for
My Own CountryMy Own Country, Abraham Verghese's first book and a New York Times Notable Book the year it appeared in 1994, has been in print since it was published...
, based on the book by
Abraham VergheseAbraham Verghese is the Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. He was born in Ethiopia to parents from Kerala in south India who, along with hundreds of Keralites, worked as...
as well as the cinematic adaptation of
Pulitzer-prizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City....
winning writer
Jhumpa LahiriJhumpa Lahiri is an Indian American author. Lahiri's debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies , won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and her first novel, The Namesake , was adapted into the popular film of the same name...
’s novel,
The NamesakeThe Namesake is the second book by author Jhumpa Lahiri. It was originally a novella published in The New Yorker and was later expanded to a full length novel. It explores many of the same emotional and cultural themes as her Pulitzer Prize-winning short story collection Interpreter of Maladies...
. The film,
The NamesakeThe Namesake is a film which was released in the United States on March 9, 2007, following screenings at film festivals in Toronto and New York City. It was directed by Mira Nair and is based upon the novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri, who appeared in the movie. Sooni Taraporevala adapted...
, was released in 2007.
Other Work
Her other produced credits include the film
Such a Long Journey based on the novel
Such a Long JourneySuch a Long Journey is a novel by Rohinton Mistry.-Plot introduction:Such a Long Journey takes place in Bombay, India, in the year 1971. The novel's protagonist is a hard-working bank clerk Gustad Noble, a devoted family man struggling to keep his wife Dilnavaz, and three children out of poverty...
by
Rohinton MistryRohinton Mistry is an author of Indian heritage, writing in English. Residing in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Mistry is of Indian origin, and belongs to the Parsi community.-Biography:...
and directed by Sturla Gunnarson. Finally, she wrote the screenplay for the film
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, directed by Dr.
Jabbar PatelDr. Jabbar Patel is a renowned theatre and film director of India. His production of the play Vijay Tendulkar's play Ghashiram Kotwal, in 1973 is considered a classic in Modern Indian Theatre ....
for the Government of India and the National Film Development Corporation of India.
Photography
Her photographs have been exhibited in India, the US,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and Britain, including
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
’s
Tate ModernThe Tate Modern in London is Britain's national museum of international modern art and is, with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, and Tate Online, part of the group now known simply as Tate....
gallery.
In Fall 2004, Ms. Taraporevala released a coffee table photography book, a first-ever visual work on India's Parsi
ZoroastrianA Zoroastrian is an adherent to Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic religion that is based on the teachings and philosophies of Zoroaster....
community, entitled
Parsis: the Zoroastrians of India - A Photographic Journey (Overlook Press, ISBN 1-58567-593-8). A 24-year labor of love, the book offers rare photos, as well as historical and personal essays on the Zoroastrian religion and Parsi social history.
Taraporevala had previously self-published the book in India in 2000, where it sold out in just a few months. The book received glowing advance praise from film director
Mira NairMira Nair is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! , won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination...
, Harvard literature professor and noted postcolonial theorist
Homi K. BhabhaHomi K. Bhabha is an Indian postcolonial theorist. He currently teaches at Harvard University where he is the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of English and American Literature and Language and Director of the Humanities Center.-Early life:...
, acclaimed writers
Rohinton MistryRohinton Mistry is an author of Indian heritage, writing in English. Residing in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Mistry is of Indian origin, and belongs to the Parsi community.-Biography:...
and
Bapsi SidhwaBapsi Sidhwa is an author of Pakistani origin who writes in English. She is perhaps best known for her collaborative work with filmmaker Deepa Mehta: Sidhwa wrote both the 1991 novel Cracking India which is the basis for Mehta's 1998 film Earth as well as the 2006 novel Water: A Novel which is...
and conductor
Zubin MehtaZubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of Western classical music.-Early life:Zubin Mehta was born into a Parsi family in Bombay , India, the son of Mehli and Tehmina Mehta. His father Mehli Mehta was a violinist and founding conductor of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra.Mehta is an alumnus of St. Mary's...
.
Filmography
- Little Zizou
Little Zizou is an 2009 Indian film in Hindi, Gujarati, and English, written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala.-Plot:Little Zizou is a fast-paced, exuberant, yet poignant comedy about how two battling Mumbai families finally come to terms...
(2009) (as writer-director)
- The Namesake
The Namesake is a film which was released in the United States on March 9, 2007, following screenings at film festivals in Toronto and New York City. It was directed by Mira Nair and is based upon the novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri, who appeared in the movie. Sooni Taraporevala adapted...
(2006)
- Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000)
- Such a Long Journey (1998)
- My Own Country
My Own Country, Abraham Verghese's first book and a New York Times Notable Book the year it appeared in 1994, has been in print since it was published...
(1998) (Showtime TV)
- Mississippi Masala
Mississippi Masala is a romance comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, starring Denzel Washington, Sharmila Tagore, and Roshan Seth. The film explores interracial romance between African-Americans and Indian-Americans in the United States, and takes...
(1991)
- Salaam Bombay!
Salaam Bombay! is a 1988 Hindi film directed by Mira Nair, and screenwritten by her longtime creative collaborator, Sooni Taraporevala. The film chronicles the day-to-day life of children living on the streets of Mumbai...
(1988)
Awards
- 1991: Golden Osella
The Golden Osella is the name of several awards given at the Venice Film Festival. They are awarded irregularly and in various categories such as directing, screenwriting, cinematography and 'technical contributions'.-Best Director:...
(Best Original Screenplay) Venice Film FestivalThe Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the Lido, Venice,...
: Mississippi MasalaMississippi Masala is a romance comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, starring Denzel Washington, Sharmila Tagore, and Roshan Seth. The film explores interracial romance between African-Americans and Indian-Americans in the United States, and takes...
(with Mira NairMira Nair is an Indian film director and producer based in New York. Her production company is Mirabai Films.She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! , won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination...
)
External links
Biography:
Misc.: