Mira Nair, a Harvard University graduate, began her artistic career as an actor before turning her attention to direction. In 1988, Nair's debut feature, Salaam Bombay! was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also won the Camera D'Or (for best first feature) and the Prix du Publique (for most popular entry) at the Cannes Film Festival as well as 25 other international awards.

Nair's next film, Mississippi Masala, an interracial love story set in the American South and Uganda, starring Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury, won three awards at the Venice Film Festival including Best Screenplay and The Audience Choice Award. Her subsequent films include The Perez Family, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, My Own Country The Laughing Club of India and of course, the hugely popular and critically acclaimed Monsoon Wedding which ran to packed houses all over the world, bringing the richness of Indian culture into the mainstream. The film went on to win the Golden Lion at the 2001 Venice Film Festival and receive Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Best Foreign Language Film.

Nair's latest project, the on-screen adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, has received tremendous critical and commercial success. Next in the works is the Hollywood project, Shantaram, starring Johnny Depp and Amitabh Bachchan.

 Says Mira Nair, "The brilliant thing is that there's room for all of us -- for our four-hour Bollywood extravaganzas and for my independent work -- because we come from a place whose heart is as big as the ocean. And to those who worry about us filmmakers becoming more international than Indian, I say this: It is because my roots are so strong that I can fly."

Mr. Kamal Dandona, Chairman of the Bollywood Group of Companies says, "It is indeed an honour and a matter of great pride that Mira will receive this esteemed award which she so richly deserves. In terms of promoting and promulgating India and Indian culture globally through cinema, she stands in a league of her own. Mira was our guest at our Inaugural Event and we are thrilled that she will now be bestowed with of one of our highest honours."

The celebrities slated to perform at this year's magnum opus include Bipasha Basu, Arjun Rampal, Vivek Oberoi, Urmilla Matondkar, Soha Ali Khan, Neha Dhupia, Kangana Ranaut. Mona Singh, UK's Raghav, Pakistan's top actress and singer Shahida Mini, Caribbean Singer Ricki Ramdehal and Pakistan's popular singer Waris Beg. 

 Other stars who have confirmed they will attend are Danny Glover, Phylicia Rashad of The Cosby Show, Anupam Kher, Kirron Kher, Upen Patel and Raj Kumar Hirani.

Courtesy: IndiaFM