On Nandita Das's Birthday, Here Are Five Must-Watch Movies Of The Dynamic Actor

Fire

It was the first Bollywood film which narrated the love between two women. Released in 1996, Fire qualifies to be called a queer classic due to the fact that it was the first Indian film to show homosexuality. It is also the first Indian mainstream film that narrated the realities of queer life. Nandita Das played the lead role in the film alongside Shabana Azmi. Directed by Deepa Mehta, the movie was widely appreciated by critics across the country.

Kannathil Muthamittal

This Tamil film had Nandita playing the role of a Sri Lankan, who loses her husband to war. She later abandons her new-born child in a foster home in order to join the Sri Lankan rebels. Directed by Mani Ratnam, the film had Nandita Das playing one of the key roles.

1947: Earth

This film is a periodic drama, which narrates the events that unfolded during the India-Pakistan partition. Nandita Das played an amazing character and brought the times of partition right before our eyes. Directed by Deepa Mehta, the movie is based on Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, Cracking India.

Before The Rains

Directed by Santosh Sivan, this film shows the greys of adultery in a married couple. Nandita Das, a married Indian falls in love with a British man, who later abandons her for his family after making her flee her village. Nandita Das later kills herself after she realises that she was cheated by her lover.

Bawandar

This is a timeless classic which narrates the story of a gang-rape survivor, who gets to terms with her life after the traumatic incident. It can be said that the filmmaker, Jag Mundhra had gone out of his way to show the realities of rape survivors.