NYC Mayor nominee Zohran Mamdani persuaded mother Mira Nair to turn down ‘Harry Potter', cast Kal Penn in ‘The Namesake'

The Hindu

a day ago

Zohran Mamdani, the Indian-origin democratic socialist set to become the Democratic candidate for New York City Mayor, has influenced the world of cinema in ways you wouldn't expect. Mamdani, the son of acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, has played a key role in his mother's career, having even persuaded her to turn down an opportunity to direct a Harry Potter film.
At the 2018 Jaipur Literature Festival, Nair revealed that Warner Bros. had approached her to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after seeing her 2004's Vanity Fair. Mira, at that time, was set to helm The Namesake, the film adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's bestseller of the same name. The project was personal to Mira, as she had just lost her mother-in-law to malpractice in a New York hospital.
'I was deep in that melancholy. That's what inspired me to make The Namesake, because Jhumpa had written in it of this terrible melancholy of losing a parent in a foreign country, which is exactly what I was experiencing,' Variety quoted Nair.
However, turning down a Harry Potter film wasn't easy; after all, her son, Mamdani, had learned to read from the 'Harry Potter' books. So she turned to him for guidance. 'He said to me, 'Mama, many good directors can make Harry Potter, but only you can make The Namesake.'
Mamdani's role in the making of The Namesake didn't end there. Fascinatingly, Nair has also stated that it was her son who convinced her to cast Kal Penn in the film. 'I was chasing movie stars for Gogol's role. And he (Mamdani) said, 'Mama, you have to watch Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.' I looked at the poster and thought 'how can I like this goofy guy?''
But she watched it — because Mamdani said so — and took a liking to Penn's performance in the stoner comedy. 'I then asked to see him (Penn), and then he got the part because he was the genuine article. Because he was raised in the country, and he was exactly in that sense, Gogol.' And that is how Penn, an actor who was only doing comedy roles, landed a dramatic, serious role in The Namesake.
'Zohran constantly gives me such advice. I always definitely hear him when we talk about the story I'm making, or who I'm thinking of, or who's good, or who's not,' added Nair.
Notably, according to Variety, Mamdani has also worked as a third assistant director and music supervisor in Nair's Queen of Katwe. He's also been credited for playing Bookie Student in the 2016 film, apart from performing a rap song titled '#1 Spice,' under the moniker Young Cardamom, for the film's soundtrack.