Mira
is
mutedly
miffed
about
how
her
latest
release
the
ambitious
Amelia
about
the
first
woman
pilot,
was
handled
by
its
distributors
Fox
Searchlight.
"Yes,
the
film
could've
been
up
for
at
least
5
Oscar
nominations.
But
my
distributors
had
other
bigger
films
to
look
into."
Mira
admits
the
reviews
for
Amelia
in
the
US
were
unfavorable.
"Except
for
some
publications
like
Hollywood
Reporter,
the
reviews
were
pretty
harsh.
I
guess
it
was
partly
a
territorial
thing.
When
as
an
Indian
abroad
I
make
a
Salaam
Bombay,
Monsoon
Wedding
or
The
Namesake,
the
international
critics
accepts
them
warmly
and
wholeheartedly.
But
when
I
do
what's
normally
considered
a
big
Hollywood
film
it
becomes
a
matter
of
territorial
suspicion
in
the
West."
Mira
says
Amelia
was
a
tough
film
to
make.
"We
had
to
go
back
and
recreate
the
era
to
which
Amelia
Earhart
belonged.
The
planes
she
flew
had
to
be
authentic.
We
had
to
get
actual
planes
of
the
kind
that
Amelia
flew
in
the
1930s.
Was
this
the
toughest
film
I've
made?
Not
really.
Vanity
Fair,
Salaam
Bombay
or
Moonsoon
Wedding
were
equally
challenging.
In
Amelia,
I
wanted
generate
an
adrenaline-rush
for
the
audience
as
though
they
were
sitting
in
the
cockpit
with
Amelia."
Hillary
Swank
plays
the
lead.
"She's
amazing!" sighs
Mira.
"A
fantastic
actress.
She
has
an
uncanny
resemblance
to
the
original
character.
I
mean
she
could've
been
Amelia
Earhart.
I
didn't
pick
her.
The
producers
picked
her.
The
project
came
to
me
with
her
already
on
broad."
Amelia
is
Mira's
biggest
film
to
date.
"A
true
epic
in
scope.
We're
shooting
around
the
world.
It's
about
Amelia
Eahart
who
pretty
much
pioneered
aviatrix.
It
starts
in
the
earlier
years
of
aviation.
My
film
goes
from
the
1920s
to
1937
when
she
did
her
final
flight
around
the
world
and
ultimately
disappeared."
Mira
recorded
the
background
score
for
Amelia
in
London.
"It's
been
done
at
the
Abbey
Studios
by
Gabriel
Yared
who
did
The
English
Patient
and
so
on.
It's
such
an
exhilarating
experience
to
work
with
such
amazing
talent."