Kamal Ghorui
Mira Nair has shared the first look of ‘Amri’, her new feature inspired by the life and art of Amrita Sher-Gil, one of India’s most important modern artists. The film stars Anjali Sivaraman as Sher-Gil and follows the forces that shaped her work across Hungary, France and India in the early 20th century. The film wraps production this week after shoots in India and Europe.
‘Amri’ first look introduces Anjali Sivaraman as Amrita Sher-Gil
According to Deadline, ‘Amri’ features Emily Watson as Sher-Gil’s mother, Marie-Antoinette Gottesman, and Jaideep Ahlawat as her father, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil. The cast also includes Krisztián Csákvári as Victor Egan, Anjana Vasan as Indira Sher-Gil, Jim Sarbh as Karl Khandalavala, and Priyanka Chopra-Jonas as Madame Azurie. Chopra-Jonas also serves as an executive producer.Nair directs the film and co-wrote it with Clara Royer. The project is produced by Samudrika Arora, Michael Nozik, and Nair through Mirabai, Samscape, and Papertown Productions, in association with KNMA and Miramax. For Nair, the film carries a personal link to Sher-Gil’s art and vision.“Every film I’ve made in the last several decades has been inspired by the art of Amrita Sher-Gil. She taught me how to see. She absorbed the best European training to distill the soul of India in a way that no one ever had — it is this distillation that has informed my own cinema from the beginning. The bravery of her palette, color and framing of the ordinary people of India has eternally moved me.”
Mira Nair’s film explores Amrita Sher-Gil’s art and identity
‘Amri’ traces Sher-Gil’s growth as an artist and a woman. The film explores her search for selfhood, her defiance of convention, her love life, and her drive to develop a visual language of her own.Sher-Gil became the youngest student admitted to the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Paris. She trained in the European tradition, then developed a style rooted in the lives of ordinary women and men in India.The producers said the film explores “seeing and being seen, and that is its universal relevance”.Samudrika Arora said Sher-Gil’s life reflects “the aspirations of the modern generation, where identity and unapologetic self-expression meet.”Michael Nozik called Sher-Gil “a true visionary artist and social revolutionary.” Major exhibitions of her work are planned in 2027 across Paris, Los Angeles, Doha, and New Delhi.
