Jag Mundhra

2021-05-03T01:45:35Z

173.63.37.240: /* IIT Bombay and United States */Corrected name of University

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Short description|Indian director and screenwriter}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jag Mundhra
| image =
| ethnicity =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1948|10|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Nagpur]], India
| death_date = {{dda|2011|09|04|1948|10|29|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai]], India
| occupation = Director
| spouse = Chandra Mundhra
| children = [[Smriti Mundhra]]
| awards = [[Zanzibar International Film Festival#Golden Dhow winners|Zanzibar International Film Festival Golden Dhow]] (2001)<br>[[Bollywood Movie Awards]] (2001)<br>Political Film Society, USA (PFS) Award - Peace Category (2004)<br>Audience Choice Award Bermuda International Film Festival (2001)
| alma mater = [[Michigan State University]]<br> [[IIT Bombay]]
}}
'''Jag Mundhra''' (born '''Jagmohan Mundhra''' 29 October 1948 – 4 September 2011) was an [[Indian American]] director, producer, and screenwriter best known for his early career as an American [[exploitation film]] writer-director.<ref name="bbc.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-14784044|title=India film-maker Jagmohan Mundhra dies at 64 - BBC News|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiablooms.com/BollywoodDetailsPage/bollywoodDetails040911a.php|title=http://www.indiablooms.com/BollywoodDetailsPage/bollywoodDetails040911a.php|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|access-date=}}{{dead link|date=February 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> After his first dramas, Suraag, and the socially-relevant film, Kamla,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296702|title=Kamla (1984)}}</ref> Mundhra directed, in the late 1980s and the 1990s, a string of [[Horror film|horror]] and [[erotic thriller]] movies for theatrical distribution and [[direct to video]], including ''The Jigsaw Murders'' (1988), ''Halloween Night'' (1988), ''[[Night Eyes]]'' (1990), ''The Other Women'' (1992), ''L.A. Goddess'' (1993), ''Sexual Malice'' (1994), ''[[Tales of The Kama Sutra: The Perfumed Garden]]'' (2000), and ''[[Tales of The Kama Sutra 2: Monsoon]]'' (2001).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shelfworthy.com/library/people/357830-jag-mundhra/|title=Jag Mundhra|access-date=9 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921040032/http://www.shelfworthy.com/library/people/357830-jag-mundhra/|archive-date=21 September 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Beginning with ''[[Bawandar]]'' (2000), which he directed under the name Jagmohan, Mundhra was back to issue-oriented films. ''Bawander'' is about the fight of a poor woman for justice and was based on the story of a Rajasthani woman [[Bhanwari Devi]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saafa.org/media_coverage.html|title=South Asian American Films and Arts Association|access-date=9 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025133433/http://www.saafa.org/media_coverage.html|archive-date=25 October 2008|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> After the film's release Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan called him and said, "Aapke bawandar ne bada bawander machaya hai." He gave Rs 50,000 and land for Bhanwari Devi and also money for her son's education. To Mundhra, "It's not a movie about rape, but the empowerment of a woman. This character could be fictitious and yet the story would have had the same powerful message".<ref name="kavita"/> In his own words, Kamla, Bawander and Provoked are his trology of strong women centric films.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/interviews/jagmohan-mundhra-provoked-300307.html|title=Jagmohan Mundhra speaks on Provoked|accessdate=29 Sep 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120713004413/http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/interviews/jagmohan-mundhra-provoked-300307.html|archivedate=13 July 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> At the time of his death he was working on a film based on the life of [[Sonia Gandhi]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110811025437/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-01-16/news-interviews/28138203_1_rasheed-kidwai-jagmohan-mundhra-rahul-and-priyanka-gandhi India Times]</ref> Mundhra was also a life member of International Film And Television Club of [[Asian Academy of Film & Television]]. Jag Mundhra is the father of Academy Award-nominated director/producer Smriti Mundhra.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-15|title=Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Smriti Mundhra on how she made St Louis Superman|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/oscar-nominated-documentary-filmmaker-smriti-mundhra-on-how-she-made-st-louis-superman-6312483/|access-date=2020-06-19|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
Mundhra was born at [[Nagpur]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612730|title=Jag Mundhra}}</ref> and grew up in a Marwari locality in [[Calcutta]], in a conservative family where films were frowned upon. He nevertheless nurtured a secret ambition to become a filmmaker. His childhood as of other Indians of his generation, was a tough one, counting pennies for the tram that rode to the other, affluent side of the city, and withstanding his family's strict traditions.<ref name=kavita>{{cite web|url=http://www.kavitachhibber.com/main/main.jsp?id=jag_mundhra|title=Dr. Jagmohan Mundhra controversy|accessdate=29 Sep 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025052009/http://www.kavitachhibber.com/main/main.jsp?id=jag_mundhra|archive-date=25 October 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.iitbombay.org/sfbay/ypanels_June_7_bios.htm|title=http://www2.iitbombay.org/sfbay/ypanels_June_7_bios.htm|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201122328/http://www.iitbombay.org/sfbay/ypanels_June_7_bios.htm|archivedate=1 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Says Mundhra, "The family was very conservative and my grand mother was very strict and we were allowed to see maybe a couple of films a year and that too of the Har Har Mahadev variety. As a child I never saw myself as a young Marwari boy but a lot beyond that. In those days, the word global citizen was not there, but inside I felt like one".

==IIT Bombay and United States==
A key influence on Mundhra was his admission to the highly competitive and prestigious [[IIT Bombay]]. In his words, "I had studied in a Hindi medium school up to 9th grade and always admired people who spoke English fluently. IIT taught me a lot of humility. In my wing, there were students who were from different states, and as far as English went, this person from Bihar who couldn’t speak English to save his life outshone everyone else with his brilliance. I did well, but realized very early on while in IIT that engineering was not for me. I would be very unhappy if I was to live my life being an engineer, but I stuck it out because I didn’t want to let my parents down".<ref name="kavita"/> He then went for his MS in Electrical Engineering, However, he switched to a Phd program in motion pictures at [[University of Michigan], before embarking on his film career.<ref name="bbc.com"/>

==Death==
He died in [[Mumbai]] on 4 September 2011, aged 62, from [[pneumonia]] and multiple organ failure.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130103115101/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-05/india/30114963_1_jagmohan-mundhra-film-nri-director ]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0612730}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mundhra, Jag}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:IIT Bombay alumni]]
[[Category:Michigan State University alumni]]
[[Category:American film directors of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Indian male screenwriters]]
[[Category:Hindi-language film directors]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Indian documentary filmmakers]]
[[Category:American screenwriters of Indian descent]]
[[Category:American film producers of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia]]
[[Category:Film directors from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Artists from Nagpur]]
[[Category:Film producers from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian film directors]]

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Jag Mundhra