An Indian filmmaker, born on 15 October 1957 in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa. She studied at Delhi and Harvard Universities. Her film Salaam Bombay! won the Caméra d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. She often collaborates on screenwriting with Sooni Taraporevala, whom she met while studying at Harvard. She won several awards, including the National Film Award, and was nominated more than once for the Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards. She was awarded India's third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan, by the President of India in 2012. Her credits include Monsoon Wedding (2001) and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012).