 "As Zohran Mamdani wins New York City’s mayoral election, mother & filmmaker Mira Nair's 2013 'desi' remark on him goes viral: 'He is not an American at all'")
Filmmaker Mira Nair’s son Zohran Mamdani has won the New York City mayoral election and is set to become the first Muslim mayor of the biggest city in the US.
While the 34-year-old New York State Assembly member and a democratic socialist, amid his win, mom and director Mira Nair’s old comment on his son being ‘desi’ has gone viral on social media.
In 2013, during an interview, the Monsoon Wedding director claimed that her son was not a “firang” (foreigner). “We are not firangs at all. He is very much like us. He is not an Uhmericcan (American) at all. He was born in Uganda, raised between India and America. He is at home in many places. He thinks of himself as a Ugandan and as an Indian,” Mira told Hindustan Times.
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) November 5, 2025
“He is a very chaalu (smart) fellow. We speak only Hindustani at home. He is involved with popular culture, but he is not into movies, as in he does not make them (unlike me),” she added.
Sharing that she opposed to the idea of her son joining the film world, she had said, “No. No. He should do whatever he wants to do. I do not see it in him to make movies. He is very involved with current affairs, politics, and political issues. I think he can be engaged in the world in some way to make a difference. He is very, very interested in that.”
Mira Nair is known for movies like Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, The Perez Family, Vanity Fair, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, The Namesake and Amelia, among others. In her illustrious career, she has received two prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and four prizes from the Venice Film Festival. She has also bagged nominations at BAFTA Awards & Academy Awards twice.
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