Nandita Das Biography

Nandita Das is an Indian actress, director and social activist. She has acted in more than 40 feature films in ten different languages. She won critical acclaim and accolades for several performances, including films like Fire, Earth, Bawandar, Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, Kannathil Muthamittal, Azhagi, Kamli, Before The Rains and many more. 

Das has served twice on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and 2013 with other prominent names as co-jury. Also, she was the first Indian introduced in the International Hall of Fame of the International Women’s Forum in Washington, DC. in 2011 for her sustained contributions to the arts and world cinema.

Early Life And Education

Nandita Das was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, on 7th November 1969 in a well educated Odia family to Jatin Das and Varsha Das. Though She was born in Mumbai, she later grew up mostly in Delhi, where she attended the Sardar Patel Vidyalaya school. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Geography from Miranda House and Master of Social Work from the Delhi School of Social Work.

Though she did her master in Social Work, that would be the reason that motivates her to do something for society at an early age. After her education, she joined a theatre group named Jana Natya Manch in Delhi. The theatre group expressed their views about ongoing social issues through their act in plays in different streets and places. Later, she also taught at the Rishi Valley School for a certain time.

Career In Films

Nandita Das is a fine actress of impacted storytelling feature films based on social issues. She worked in more than ten languages like Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, Odia, English, Bengali, Malayalam, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, and Kannada. Along with acting, she is a great director, writer and also did voice narration in several works.

As Actress

Nandita has acted in more than 40 films with great directors like Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shyam Benegal, Deepa Mehta, and Mani Ratnam. She had started her acting career by joining the street theatre group Jana Natya Manch. 

She is best known for her performances in Deepa Mehta’s directing films Fire (1996; along with Shabana Azmi) and Earth (1998; alongside Aamir Khan), Bawander (directed by Jagmohan Mundhra), and Naalu Pennungal (directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan ). She has also acted in the movie Before the Rains, an Indian-British period drama film directed by Santosh Sivan.

From the early of her acting career, she has been a brave and promising actress. She has always picked some unique stories and challenging characters that have reflected the dual mentality of society. In Movies like Bawandar alongside actor Raghuvir Yadav, she played the role of ( Saanvri ) a rape victim village woman, and later how she fought back and took that matter into court. For that performance, she got multiple awards from different institutions.

One more film named Fire describes the actress’s credibility and how she was a true visionary with her thoughts. In that movie, she played the character of a housewife alongside the veteran actress Shabana Azmi. Some part of that story was talking about homosexuality, and some people did not accept that. As a result, the film got a huge controversy in India. People would know about all that at that time, but no one was ready to accept that. 

Later, on 6th September 2018, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India invalidated part of 377 of the Indian Penal Code, making homosexuality legal in India. Das trimmed her head for some part of the movie scenes only to present an impactful performance.

As Director

In 2008, for the first time she introduced herself as a director with the film Firaaq. The film was a work of fiction and based on incidents of post 2002 Gujarat riots in India. The Firaaq film won many accolades and appreciation, both in India and abroad.

In 2018, after a gap of ten years, Nandita Das again came back as a director with a new project, Manto. The film was based upon the life of the short story writer, Saadat Hasan Manto. The character of Manto Played by Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Here, by knowing this, you might find it funny, but Nawazuddin Siddiqui took only rupees 1 for this movie. The film premiered at the Cannes film festival in 2018 and was later screened at the Toronto International film festival. 

During the pandemic, in May 2020, she wrote, directed and acted in a short film, Listen to Her. The 7 min film was produced by Nandita Das Initiatives and is about the increase in domestic violence and overburden of work that women are facing during the lock-down. It was supported by UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and South Asia Foundation.

Voice Narration

Actress Nandita Das has given her voice in narrating a lot of works, some of them as 

• Narrated the children’s audiobook series Under the Banyan

• In Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography (The Story of My Experiments with Truth) by Charkha Audiobooks .

• She also sang in movies like the song Ramleela of the movie Aks and Jagya Sarsi of the movie Bawandar.

Contribution As Social Activist

Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Delhi helped Nandita explore different Indias within one India. Despite being an award-winning actress, she never prioritised that profession on top in her life. She believes acting in films has given her a wider platform, and it helped in the lateral stage to communicate her thoughts with a wider audience. But whatever she has been doing besides films might look different streams, but their ultimate destination is the same to do something in life that makes the heart feel good. 

She always spoke up about social issues and actively participated in several campaigns. She has worked for children’s rights, spreading awareness on HIV/AIDS, about domestic violence against women and many more. 

India’s Got Colour (Dark is Beautiful) Campaign

In 2013, Das became the face of the campaign “Dark is Beautiful“. Launched by Women of Worth in 2009, the campaign was about standing against discrimination based on skin colour in India. That urges people to celebrate the beauty and diversity of all skin tones with slogans such as “Stay Unfair, Stay Beautiful.” 

In 2019, the campaign was reinvented as India’s Got Colour. Along with Mahesh Mathai, Nandita Das has produced and co-directed a two-minute Public Service Announcement video for the campaign. The music video features several eminent artists from the Indian Film Industry.

Awareness From A Good Speaker

Nandita has been a featured speaker at various stages in India and abroad, including : 

• In 2007 at MIT, after a screening of Fire

• In 2014 at Tufts University, on Gender in Society and Cinema.

• In 2016, she gave a TEDx talk at TEDxWalledCity on “The Biggest Hypocrisy of Our Times: Our Attitude to Poverty.”

• In 2011, she spoke at TEDxNarimanPoint, on “Transformation in Education“.

• In 2019, she gave a Tedx talk at TEDxShivNadarUniversity, on  “A Mother’s Journey With Anger”.

Nandita Das Family And Personal life

Nandita Das was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in an Odia family. Her father’s name is Jatin Das, who is a famous painter and recipient of Padma Bhushan. Her mother is Varsha Das, and she is also a prominent writer. Nadita also has a brother and his name is Siddharth Das, he is a creative designer in his profession. Nandita’s father mainly originates from Odisha’s Baripada town.

In 2002, Das married Saumya Sen. The couple then started a media company named LeapFrog, which was making socially conscious ad films. But their married life didn’t last long, and the couple divorced in 2007.

Later she met with Subodh Maskara, a Mumbai based industrialist and married him on 2nd January 2010 and moved to Mumbai. Nandita and Subodh have a son named Vihaan. In January 2017, the couple announced that they have parted ways.

Being Proud As An Odia

In January 2018, When she was in Bhubaneswar to attend the International Film Festival by JD Centre of Art, while in an interview, she shared:

“My father is an extremely passionate Odia. I meet Odias outside the state those who don’t speak Odia and don’t eat Odia food and I am quite amazed by that. They say that they left Odisha before they were 18. I reply that I have never stayed here but thanks to my father who used to take us to Baripada, our home town, every year, me with my cousins used to sing Odia songs and especially the food here is highly sophisticated. It really breaks my heart that people don’t know what we eat. The number of Pithas, the vegetables that we use, the variety of sweets we have, variety of fish and mutton – we have variety in every single thing and yet nobody knows about it. My connection with the state is very deep.”

Awards And Recognition

• Nandita Das was appointed the Chairperson of Children’s Film Society from 2009 to 2012. 

• She was the first Indian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the International Women’s Forum of Washington DC. 

• In 2010, she was nominated by the World Economic Forum to be a Youth Global Leader. 

• In 2011, she was made Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Government, one of the nation’s highest civilian awards. She was given for her “contribution towards the development of Indo-French cooperation in the field of cinema.”

• Nandita Das was among the 16 applicants, chosen from close to 4000 applicants, to be a Yale World Fellow in 2014.

• In August 2018, Power Brands awarded Nandita Das the Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar to advocate communal harmony, peace, and social justice, especially for women and children, with her cinematic craft.

Acting Awards (Won)

• In 2000, 45th Filmfare Awards for Best Debut Actress for the movie 1947 Earth.
• In 2001, Santa Monica Film Festival won Best Actress for the movie Bawander.
• In 2002, Cairo International Film Festival for Best Actress for the movie Amaar Bhuvan.
• In 2002, Tamil Nadu State Film Awards of Special Prize for the movie Kannathil Muthamittal.
• In 2006, Nandi Awards for Best Actress for The movie Kamli.
• In 2007, Madrid International Film Festival for Best Actress for the movie Maati Maay (A Grave-keeper’s Tale).

Direction Awards (Won)

Awards for Firaaq Film

• In 2008, at the Asian Festival of First Films, it won awards in the categories.

1. Best Film 
2. Best Screenplay
3. Foreign Correspondents Association Purple Orchid Award for Best Film

• In 2009, at the Kara Film Festival, it won in the category of Best Film. 
• In 2009, at the International Film Festival of Kerala, it won the Special Jury Award category.
• In 2009, at Thessaloniki International Film Festival, it won the category of Special Prize. (Everyday Life: Transcendence or Reconciliation Award)
• In 2010, at Filmfare Awards, it won in the category of Special Award.

Awards For The Movie Manto

• In 2018, at the Asia Pacific Screen Award, Manto film won FIAPF (films in the Asia Pacific region).

Nandita Das Films

2019 – Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai (Hindi)

2018 – Dhaad Paresh Naik (Gujarati)

2017 – Khamosh Adalat Jaari Hai! (Hindi)

2014 – Traces of Sandalwood (Catalan & Hindi)

2013 – Oonga Devashish Makhija (Hindi, Odia)

2012 – Neerparavai Seenu Ramasamy (Tamil)

2010 – I Am (Hindi) 

2008 – Ramchand Pakistani (Urdu)

2007 – Naalu Pennungal (Malayalam )

2007 – Before the Rains (English/Malayalam)

2007 – Maati Maay – A Grave-keeper’s Tale (Marathi)

2006 – Bits & Pieces (Hindi) (to be released)

2006 – Provoked (English) 

2006 – Kamli (Telugu)

2006 – Podokkhep – Footsteps (Bengali) 

2004 – Vishwathulasi (Tamil) 

2003 – Kagaar (Hindi)

2003 – Ek Alag Mausam (Hindi)

2003 – Ek Din 24 Ghante (Hindi) 

2003 – Supari (Hindi)

2003 – Bas Yun Hi (Hindi)

2003 – Shubho Mahurat (Bengali) 

2002 – Amar Bhuvan – My World (Bengali) 

2002 – Azhagi (Tamil)

2002 – Kannathil Muthamittal – A Peck on the Cheek (Tamil) 

2002 – Pitaah (Hindi)

2000 – Lal Salaam (Hindi) 

2001 – Kannaki (Malayalam)

2001 – Charu, Daughters Of This Century (Hindi)

2001 – Aks (Hindi) 

2000 – Bawandar – Sandstorm (Hindi) 

2000 – Punaradhivasam (Malayalam)

2000 – Hari Bhari (Hindi) 

1999 – Deveeri (Kannada) 

1999 – Shapner Sandhane (Bengali)

1999 – Rockford (English) 

1999 – Biswa Prakash (Odia)

1999 – 1947 Earth (Hindi / English) 

1997 – Janmadinam (Malayalam) 

1998 – Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (Hindi) 

1996 – Fire (Hindi) 

1994 – Ek Thi Goonja (Hindi) 

1989 – Parinati (Hindi)  

Nandita Das Bio Details

Name  – Nandita Das

Nick Name – Nandita

Date of Birth – 7th November 1969

Gender  – Female

Birth Place – Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Nationality – Indian

Religion – atheist (She welcomes all religion equally!)

Education – Master of Social Work from the Delhi School of Social Work

Profession  – Actress, Filmmaker, Writer, Social Activist

Age  – 54 ( As in Nov. 2024)

Father – Jatin Das

Mother – Varsha Das

Brother – Siddhartha Das 

Marital Status – Married

Husband – Soumya Sen ( M. 2002; Div.- 2007), Subodh Maskara (M. 2010; Div. – 2017)

Children (1) – Vihaan Maskara ( Son )

Debut Film – Parinati (1977)

Though Nandita Das is a film actress, she also manages to stand fearlessly in different social causes of the country. It makes her different from the others within the film fraternity. She is the kind of actress who never participated in the race of money like others within the industry. Her fan following might not be counted in the masses but in the category of classes. Odisha Darsan wishes that God bless her great health, more happiness and lots of strengths to keep continue her part of good works both in films and for society.

Dear Readers, if you like the article, then kindly share your thoughts here. Also, If I have missed something to mention here and need to update within this list, please let me know below in the comment section. – Odisha Darsan