Amidst the chaos and uproar in the first half of 2025, a new star emerged on the American political stage. Zohran Mamdani, just 33 years old, unexpectedly defeated Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the Democratic primary at the end of June and was chosen as the Democratic candidate for the next mayor of New York City.
Considering the strong popularity of the Democratic Party in New York City over the past decade and the strength of several rivals—such as the Republican nominee, Curtis Slier, a 71-year-old New York City legend who lost his 2021 mayoral bid to incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who was also seeking re-election this year but withdrew from the Democratic Party in April and plans to run as an independent. However, his tenure has been plagued by corruption and controversy, making his re-election prospects slim—Zohran Mamdani's chances of winning the November election are quite high. If he wins, he will become the youngest New York City mayor in the past century and the first Muslim mayor in history.
In real life, Zohran Mamdani enjoys hip-hop and has released several singles. However, compared to music, film has perhaps had a greater impact on him. This is because his mother is the renowned Indian director Mira Nair.
Zohran Mamdani (left) celebrates winning the Democratic Party's nomination for mayor of New York City with his mother Mira Nair and father Mahmoud Mamdani at an election night party on June 24 this year.
Mira Nair, 67, received a Harvard scholarship at the age of 19 and moved from India to the United States to study. After entering the workforce, she began directing documentaries, but her real breakthrough came in 1988 with her feature debut, Good Morning, Mumbai! Continuing a documentary approach, the film directly explored the various poverty issues facing Indian society. It won the Caméra d'Or for Best First Feature at the Cannes Film Festival that year and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2001, her film, Monsoon Wedding, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, making Mira Nair a global celebrity.
In 1988, Mira Nair traveled to Uganda to research the film "Mississippi Graffiti," starring Denzel Washington. There, she met Mahmood Mamdani, an Indian-Ugandan anthropologist more than a decade her senior. They married in 1991 and gave birth to their son, Zohran Mamdani, that same year. The family moved to New York when he was seven.
Mira Nair won the Golden Lion Award, the highest honor at the Venice Film Festival, for her film "Monsoon Wedding".
Zohran Mamdani stated in an interview that as an only son, he and his mother always had a very close relationship. As a child, he dreaded the thought of his mother leaving for film shoots, as it meant months of separation. However, among his mother's films, the one he cherishes most is not the award-winning "Monsoon Wedding" or "Good Morning, Mumbai!", but rather the 2012 film "Stranger in the Lahore Tea House" (also known as "I Am Not Bin Laden").
Based on the 2007 novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a Pakistani man whose American dream is shattered after the September 11th attacks. Riz Ahmed plays the protagonist, a successful Wall Street businessman. However, despite having done nothing wrong, he is unable to establish himself in the United States due to his family background. Even after returning to Pakistan, he is still pursued by CIA agents as a suspect in the kidnapping of American hostages.
"Strangers in the Lahore Teahouse" tells the story of the shattered "American Dream" in the post-9/11 era.
"A Stranger in a Lahore Teahouse" isn't a traditional political thriller; instead, it uses the dialogue between its two protagonists to reveal the clash of civilizations and the horrors of extremism. At the time of the film's release, 20-year-old Mamdani was studying Africana Studies at Bowdoin College, a prestigious private university in the United States, and had founded a student organization on campus supporting Palestinians.
In an interview with the media, Mira Nair mentioned that her son was unusually supportive of her filming of this movie. She believed that this was because many of the contents in the film resonated with the young boy, that is, as a minority Muslim immigrant from a foreign country, although they can receive warm acceptance and development opportunities in the United States, the base camp of the Western world, they will also be subject to inexplicable misunderstandings and hostility at the slightest disturbance.
Mira Nair with 16-year-old Zohran Mamdani at the Gotham Awards in 2007.
More than a decade later, Mamdani has transformed himself from a college student into a leading candidate for New York City mayor. His platform, in addition to raising the minimum wage, overhauling the tax system, and supporting free public transportation, also includes a voice for the Muslim community in New York City. "Many Muslims understand that to live respectably in this country, they must face slander and defamation. Consequently, many choose to hide, retreating into the shadows, believing that this is the safest place. Now, my hope is to bring these marginalized people back into mainstream American society," he said on NPR's "New Morning News" last month.
Mira Nair also spoke in an interview about the experiences of her family of three in New York City after 9/11. Mamdani was nine years old at the time, and her family had been in New York for just over a year. "We used to go for walks every night with my in-laws, but after 9/11, we suddenly felt like we were being looked at with disdain. Suddenly, this place we had once considered home, this place that had been so beautiful, no longer felt like home."
Besides "Strangers in a Lahore Teahouse," Mamdani was also deeply influenced by his mother's romantic film, "Mississippi," which tells the story of a romance between a Ugandan man and an Indian woman and was partly inspired by Mira Nair and her husband's personal experiences. Although Zohran Mamdani was only born when the film was released, it became a favorite of the three of them throughout his childhood.
Mississippi Graffiti was inspired in part by Mira Nair and her husband's own experiences.
Zohran Mamdani has also participated in his mother Mira Nair's film career. In her last film, the 2016 film Queen of Katwe, he served as third assistant director and music producer, sang an interlude, and played a minor role.
Although her son ultimately didn't pursue a film career, Mira Nair remains his unwavering supporter. Having not directed a film in nearly a decade since "Katui," she spared no effort in her son's campaign, posting on social media and even publicly urging him to vote at a retrospective screening of "Monsoon Wedding." Her work has undoubtedly influenced her son's worldview, and in turn, her son has had a significant influence on his filmmaking.
In the past, Mamdani not only often accompanied Mira Nair to various red carpet events, but also influenced her career path at critical moments. According to Nair, after filming "Vanity Fair" starring Reese Witherspoon in 2004, Warner Bros. Films contacted her to direct "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", but she was currently preparing a new film about Indian immigrants, "The Namesake". "It was not easy to say no to "Harry Potter", but I really admire the original novel of "The Namesake". Just when I was in trouble, my son said to me, "Mom, there are many directors in the world who can make "Harry Potter", but you are the only one who can make "The Namesake"."
Mira Nair had given up directing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to make The Same.
Just like that, thanks to a remark from Zohran Mamdani, then just 14 years old, Mira Nair's directorial career took a small turn. It was also he who recommended the hilarious comedy "The Man Who Walked the Streets" to his mother, introducing her to Indian actor Kal Penn and ultimately choosing him for the leading role in "The Namesake." "My son constantly gives me advice, whether it's about a film I'm working on or which actors I think would be suitable or not," Nair said.
Although Zohran Mamdani has become the leading candidate for the next New York City mayor, his emergence has also drawn strong backlash from the Republican Party. Several Republican lawmakers and right-wing politicians have linked him to the 9/11 attacks, claiming his policies are tantamount to terrorism, and have even called for his citizenship to be revoked and for his expulsion from the United States. On July 1st, President Trump stated at a press conference that he would investigate Mamdani's possible illegal residency.