For the past four years, Mira Nair has been living with the life story of Hungarian-Indian painter Amrita Sher-Gil, eager to bring it to the screen. Now, it looks like the acclaimed filmmaker has found her leading lady. While rumours were rife that Ananya Panday was approached for the biopic titled Amri,
mid-day has exclusively learnt that Tanya Maniktala has been roped in to play the renowned painter. This will mark Nair’s reunion with the actor, who played the lead in her BBC television drama series A Suitable Boy (2020).
Nair had announced Amri soon after the première of the series. Through the biopic, the filmmaker wants to spotlight the painter, who is counted among the greatest avant-garde women artistes of the early 20th century. In her career that was tragically cut short by her demise in 1941, Sher-Gil captured the everyday life of people in her paintings. While they have influenced generations of Indian artistes, not much about her art is known in the West — something that Nair hopes to change with her period drama.
A source shares, “Considering the painter was born to a Hungarian mother and an Indian father, Amri will be shot in India and Hungary, and a chunk in France. Last month, the filmmaker met Tanya in Delhi and finalised her. Besides Amrita’s rise as a painter, the film will focus on how her father Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia, her husband Viktor Egan, her fiancé Yusuf Ali Khan, and friend Jawaharlal Nehru influenced her life. In 2023, Mira had approached Naseeruddin Shah, Vicky Kaushal, and Jim Sarbh to play pivotal roles.” If things go as planned, Nair will take the biopic on floors by the year-end.
Amrita Sher-Gil
Did you know?
Amrita Sher-Gil’s last painting was left unfinished due to her demise in December 1941