Thanks to India, ‘Vanity Fair’ was no dreary affair for Nair
Where “work” belongs in a sentence, filmmaker Mira Nair says “labored.” Instead of “great,” she prefers “amazing,” and “sorrow” instead of “sadness.”
Her world is full of the passion reflected in her visually stunning movies. Sentences end with an imaginary exclamation, punctuated with graceful gestures and accented by her colorful wardrobe.
“I’m very careful about where I put my energy,” Nair says during an interview at Manhattan’s Regency Hotel, dressed in a purple and maroon iridescent silk tunic, textured and shimmering.
“I have a lot of things in my life that I do, that I’m passionate about. I have to do only that which will possess me.”
Her latest obsession, in the truest sense, is the film adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s classic novel “Vanity Fair.” The heroine, Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon), is a “fiercely intelligent” social climber, a modern character out of place in England’s 19th century, when the book was published.
According to Nair, when the script was sent to her, her response was an “automatic ‘Yes!’ “
Her familiarity with the novel (she read it and loved it as a student at an English boarding school in India), coupled with Thackeray’s vision and critique of the Regency era in England, sealed the deal.
“Thackeray cut through the bull,” Nair says. “He had this incredibly satiric and acerbic point of view. He saw through the sham and facade of early 19th-century London society.”
Thackeray’s upbringing in India, a heritage shared by Nair, inspired the visuals for “Vanity Fair” as much as it did for the novel.
In every scene, India is present – from the red-and-yellow color scheme in which you often see Witherspoon’s Becky Sharp, to the elaborate dance sequence at the crux of the movie.
“During pre-production, I couldn’t bear to see Becky clickity-clacking down an English countryside for the ending. I had to take her to India,” Nair says.
The two-day shoot there, with a pregnant Witherspoon, gave Nair enough exterior shots of India to make a two-hour movie primarily shot in drab and dreary England richer in style.
Born in Orissa, a state in India, Nair studied at Delhi University before coming to America on a full scholarship to Harvard University. She started her career as an actor, but soon realized that she had more creative control as a filmmaker.
Her early documentaries about life in India, shot in gritty style, initiated the shower of accolades that would follow her 20-year career as a director, writer and producer. She was first widely recognized in this country for her film “Monsoon Wedding,” released in 2001.
Each movie consumes Nair’s every thought for the year and a half that it takes to film. But she doesn’t waste time waiting for another project to come around after she finishes one.
Her next project is already in line, “The Namesake.” Having been “viscerally moved” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri‘s second novel, Nair shelved two movies she was already doing.
Doesn’t she want to enjoy the media hoopla of the “Vanity Fair” release?
“I don’t want to be corrupted by the ups and downs of it,” she says. “I prefer to be humbled by work around that time, to be absorbed really creatively. Otherwise, I’ll sit around hoping you’ll like it.”
The birthday bunch
Actor John Philip Law is 67. Singer Gloria Gaynor is 55. Singer Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) is 53. Actress Julie Kavner (“The Simpsons”) is 53. Actor Corbin Bernsen is 50. Model Angie Everhart is 35. Actress Shannon Elizabeth (“American Pie”) is 31.