Shonali Bose

Shonali Bose (born 3 June 1965) is an Indian film director, writer and film producer. Having made her feature film debut in 2005, she has since won such accolades as a National Film Award, a Bridgestone Narrative Award, and a Sundance Mahindra Global Filmmaker Award.

Shonali Bose
Bose in 2015.
Born (1965-06-03) 3 June 1965
Kolkata, India
EducationMiranda House College

The Lawrence School, Sanawar

Columbia University
OccupationFilmmaker, writer
Years active1992—present
RelativesMalini Chib (cousin)

Bose earned her breakthrough with her first feature film, the 2005 biographical drama Amu, which was based on her own novel of the same name. The film which chronicles the attacks on Sikhs in Delhi in 1984, garnered critical acclaim and the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English. Bose then worked as the assistant director for the 2012 war film Chittagong, which she also co-wrote.

Bose's status as a filmmaker grew following the critical and commercial success of the dramas Margarita with a Straw (2015) and The Sky Is Pink (2019). Inspired from the life of Malini Chib—her cousin and a disability rights activist, the former earned Bose a Sundance Mahindra Global Filmmaker Award and a NETPAC Award.

Bose is also an active philanthropist and supports various charitable organisations. She was married to filmmaker Bedabrata Pain, but the couple separated following the death of their son.

Early life

Shonali Bose was born on 3 June 1965 in Calcutta, West Bengal and spent most of her young adult life in Mumbai and New Delhi. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Delhi University and master's degree in Political Science from Columbia University, New York. She has been an activist since her time at Miranda House in Delhi University. Bose was also involved in theatre as an actor throughout school and college. Bose did not originally plan to be involved in film, however she saw it as a better outlet for activism after realizing how far removed her Ph.D studies were from activism.[1] On her film work she says, "Film is the means with which I want to communicate ideas about social and political change." [1]

Career

Early career and breakthrough with Amu (1999-2010)

Bose worked as an organizer for the National Lawyers Guild for about a year. She directed live community television in Manhattan before joining the MFA Directing Program at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Early in her career, Bose directed such short films as The Gendarme Is Here and Undocumented, and the feature-length documentary Lifting the Veil; the productions were screened at numerous film festivals.

Bose made her feature film debut with the 2005 drama Amu; she had also written the production's screenplay.[2][3] The film released in India in January to critical acclaim and positive response from the audience. Amu was screened at international film festivals in Berlin and Toronto. Bose won several national and international awards for the film, including the FIPRESCI Critics Award, the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English and the Gollapudi Srinivas Award for Best Debut Director.[4] Bose wrote the novel Amu, which based on the screenplay which released simultaneously with the film.[5][6]

Continued critical success (2010- present)

Bose co-wrote the Bedabrata Pain directed film Chittagong, a period drama that chronicles the 1930 Chittagong armoury raid.[7][8] Her 2014 production, Margarita, with a Straw, starring Kalki Koechlin as a girl with cerebral palsy, premiered at 2014 Toronto International Film Festival to critical acclaim. The film won the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film at the event.[9] She had begun working on the script a year after the death of her son; the film's initial draft won the Sundance Mahindra Global Filmmaker Award, at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Bose was inspired to make the film by her real life experiences of studying in New York, her relationship with her cousin Malini Chib who has cerebral palsy, and her and Chib's sexuality as queer and disabled people respectively.[1] The film was originally rejected by the censor board in India, but won an appeal and was released shortly after the ban on homosexuality in India was lifted.[1]

In 2019, Bose has written and directed The Sky Is Pink, a film based on the motivational speaker Aisha Chaudhary, starring Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar and Zaira Wasim. The film was theatrically released on 11 October 2019 and was critically acclaimed.[10][11][12]

Upcoming project

Bose has committed to write the pilot episode for an untitled television series based on Diksha Basu's debut novel The Windfall.[7]

Personal life

She was married to Bedabrata Pain but is now separated.[13] The couple's son Ishan Bose-Pain died on 13 September 2010 at age 16.[14] Bose identifies as bisexual.[15]

Filmography
Year Film Note(s)
2005 Amu Writer, Director and Producer
2012 Chittagong Writer and Producer
2015 Margarita with a Straw Story, Screenplay, Dialogue, Director and Producer[16]
2019 The Sky Is Pink Director

Awards
FilmYearCategoryAward/Film FestivalNotes
Amu2005Best Feature Film in EnglishNational Film Awards[17]
2005FIPRESCI Critics Award.[18]International Federation of Film Critics
2005Best English Language FilmStar Screen Award
2005Sundance Global Filmmaker Award
Margarita with a Straw2015NETPAC Jury award for Best Asian Film [19]Toronto International Film Festival
2015Audience AwardFilmfest DC – Washington DC International Film Festival
2016Audience Award - Best FeatureFrameline San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival
2015Youth Jury AwardVesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
2015Audience Award for Best Feature FilmVesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
2015Feature Film Award - Best International FilmGalway Film Fleadh (Ireland)
2015Best International FeatureGaze International LGBT Film Festival (Ireland) - Spirit of GAZE Award
2015Audience AwardMontclair Film Festival (MFF)
2015Audience Award for Best Feature FilmBrussels Extraordinary Film Festival
2015Best FilmGrand Prix Jury Award for Best Film
2015Best FilmImage Out. Rochester LGBT Film Festival
2015Jury Award – Best Narrative FictionMIX Copenhagen
2015Best Feature FilmLili Award
2015Best Feature FilmCasa Asia Film Week, Spain
2015Audience Award for Best Feature FilmNorth Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
2015Best FilmUtah Film Center – Damn These Heels
2015Audience Award for Best Feature FilmTeaneck International Film Festival - Best Feature Award
2015Best ScreenplayNashville Film Festival – Bridgestone Narrative Competition
2015Audience Choice AwardHamburg Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2015Best Film, Best Script, Best Direction - Filmmaker of the YearStardust COLORS [20]
2015VIWIFF AwardVancouver International Women in Film Festival
2014NETPAC AwardToronto International Film Festival
Year Film Award Category Result Ref.
2020 The Sky Is Pink FilmFare Awards Best Film (Critics) Nominated
Screen Awards Best Film (Critics) Nominated
Best Director (Critics) Nominated
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See also

References
  1. "Shonali Bose: Activism, with a Film". The Vilcek Foundation. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  2. "'Amu', a film by Shonali Bose". Institute of Race Relations. Archived from the original on 15 November 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  3. "Amu (2005) - Release Info". IMDB. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  4. "FIPRESCI - festival awards 2005". FIPRESCI. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  5. Bose, Shonali (2004). Amu : a novel. New Delhi: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-303232-1.
  6. "Indo-American Arts council, Inc". Indo-American Arts council. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  7. "Shonali Bose Will Direct New TV Series Based On Novel About Delhi's Noveau [sic] Riche - NDTV Movies". NDTVMovies.com. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  8. Roy, Sandip. "Real life RDB: the Chittagong story". Telegraph Kolkata. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  9. "Margarita, with a Straw". TIFF. Archived from the original on 30 August 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  10. Sinha Jha, Priyanka (10 October 2019). "The Sky Is Pink Movie Review: Priyanka Chopra-Farhan Akhtar Film is All Shades of Life". CNN-News18. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  11. Chatterjee, Saibal (10 October 2019). "The Sky Is Pink Movie Review: Priyanka Chopra Lends This Unmissable Film A Starry Edge". NDTV. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  12. "Zaira Wasim to play Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan's daughter in next?". Hindustan Times. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  13. IIT Foundation (22 July 2007). "IIT Foundation [ "AMU", an award winning film by a KGP Alumnus — Releasing in San Francisco ]". Iitfoundation.org. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  14. "NRIs lose case against US firm on son's death". News18. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  15. "Bisexual director Shonali Bose on her revolutionary queer film "Margarita, with a Straw" - AfterEllen". AfterEllen. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  16. Harvey, Dennis (16 January 2015). "Film Review: 'Margarita, With a Straw'". Variety. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  17. "52nd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. pp. 82–83. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  18. Indiewire. "indieWIRE INTERVIEW | "Amu" Director Shonali Bose | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  19. "'Margarita, With a Straw' : Toronto Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  20. CREATIVEJOYC, CREATIVEJOYC (20 February 2016). "A Toast to Filmmaker Shonali Bose and Margarita, with a Straw!". sszeemedia. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
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