Mira Nair’s new film spotlights Amrita Sher-Gil after son’s election win

Mira Nair’s latest public moment is less about celebrity and more about the cost of being folded into national politics through a child’s rise. As her son, Zohran Mamdani, took office as New York City’s 112th mayor on January 1, 2026, Nair said, “I feel like we have given him to the world,” a line that captures both pride and the loss of privacy that can come when a family member becomes a political symbol.

Mamdani, 34, was sworn in as mayor after serving in the 36th New York State Assembly District, which includes Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway and Astoria Heights in Queens. His election was widely framed as a historic breakthrough, with coverage describing him as New York City’s first Muslim mayor and first South Asian mayor, and as the youngest in more than a century to hold the office. That ascent has drawn new scrutiny to the family behind him, extending attention far beyond city hall and into the cultural worlds that shaped his upbringing.

For Nair, that renewed attention has landed as she prepares a deeply personal film of her own. Her next project, Amri, is a biographical drama inspired by the life and art of Amrita Sher-Gil, the Hungarian-Indian painter widely regarded as a pioneer of modern Indian art. The film has been shot across India and Europe, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas serves as an executive producer. Recent casting reports list Anjali Sivaraman as Sher-Gil, alongside Emily Watson, Jaideep Ahlawat, Anjana Vasan, Jim Sarbh and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

The project places Nair in the middle of a different kind of public reckoning. Sher-Gil’s story is one of artistic modernity, cross-cultural identity and historical influence, themes that mirror the wider geography of Nair’s own life and career, which have connected India, Uganda and New York City. In that sense, Amri is not just another film in development. It is also a reminder that Nair’s family is now being read through two public legacies at once: one political, one artistic, each carrying its own demands, expectations and intrusions.