Independent filmmaking is one of the hardest yet most rewarding professions out there.
Choosing a suitable cast, gathering the right crew who you can depend on, and collecting enough money to support your free film school are just a few of the struggles that come with making a film independently, however, it doesn’t need to be this daunting.
Mira Nair is one of the most popular and well-respected independent filmmakers in the world and while she may have started making out educational documentary filmmaking, very soon she began making independent films and inspirational films where she portrayed authentic Indian culture to a national audience.
At the end of 2020, Mira announced her
Who Is Mira Nair?
Indian filmmaker Mira Nair first became known for filming several documentaries that explored Indian culture through an extensive range of interviews with people hailing from all walks of life.
While her first documentary ‘Jama Masjid Street Journal’ was shot in black and white and only 18 minutes long, just a few years later Mira, with her friend Sooni Taraporevala, wrote and directed ‘Salaam Bombay’, arguably Mira Nair’s most popular feature film that sought to portray the ‘street children’ of India in an authentic and honest light that had never been exposed to western audiences before.
Mira Nair is also a Venice film festival award winner and one of the best independent filmmaking celebrities in the film industry.
While Mira began her filmmaking career with little more than a feverous passion for the artistry, her films and documentaries have gone on to capture the imaginations and interest of audiences worldwide and with a Golden Lion award to her name, along with a Pride of India award and recently the Padma Bhushan which is the third-highest civilian Indian award that can be granted, there is no one better to host an online learning filmmaking class than her.
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What Is Included In Mira Nair’s MasterClass ?
As part of Mira Nair’s 4-and-a-half-hour
In this

Positives Of Mira Nair’s MasterClass
17 Informative And Varied Lessons
With 17 lessons available and with each one being just 15 minutes long, not only does this
For example, in lesson 3 where Mira explains about finding the right story to tell, the 15-minute episode covers how to draw inspiration from current social events before then discussing how to find the right collaborator for a story and finally, how Mira drew ideas for her hit film ‘Monsoon Wedding’.
Working On A Budget
She may now be one of the most well-acclaimed screenwriters in the world, but Mira teaches and still remembers what it’s like for many aspiring filmmakers who have big ambitions but small budgets, and this shows as Mira makes sure to talk about each of the many aspects that go into filmmaking while always proceeding to say how these can be achieved on a strict budget.
This makes the class incredibly accessible to any aspiring filmmaker whether they be a university student or someone with a bit more experience, Mira makes sure to appeal to the intended audience at all times.
Extra Workbook Included
Alongside the 17 lessons, upon subscribing to the class you will also gain immediate access to an incredibly handy 66-page workbook which includes chapter reviews, assignments to complete, and a full glossary.
Not only is this a great addition to read through between each of the lessons to recap what you just went through, but it’s also an incredibly detailed and thorough document that you can use any time that you may need it in the future.
Incredibly In-Depth Details
One positive that really helps Maira’s class stand out from many of her peers is just how many small but incredibly important filmmaking details she includes in each of her sessions.
In lesson 5 for example where she discusses casting, Mira not only covers how to find the right actors for a particular role, but she also discusses how to work with actors who are both professional and novice, how to prepare child actors for a role and even how to make each actor as comfortable as possible when they’re not in front of the camera.
Along with contextual information on acting in Indian cinema in comparison to the rest of the world, each lesson is packed with far more than just their titles.
- Learn from the best!
- New classes added every month
- 180+ classes to choose from
"Bored of TV, check out this Incredible content and cast"
Negatives Of Mira Nair’s MasterClass
Quite Fast Paced
While each lesson is packed full of information because they only reach up to 15 minutes in length, it does mean that Mira can rush through some parts or only cover them vaguely, and while the textbook does help fill in these gaps, for some episodes it can feel like they would benefit from being just a little longer so that the smaller aspects can be fleshed out a little more.
No Communication With Mira
Many people sign up for a
Unfortunately, there is no sub-section or feature in Mira’s class to chat or pose questions to her directly. While this is understandable since she must be incredibly busy in her career, it’s a feature that many other classes tend to have which can make it a drawback for some.
Final Thoughts
Overall, for the $15 monthly
It would have been nice to have a feature to enable students to contact Mira directly, however, this isn’t a dealbreaker since most of what would be needed to know is still included in the in-depth lessons.
The course does admittedly move along incredibly quickly which can mean that some topics get a little less attention than we would have liked, however, the fantastic workbook helps to alleviate this issue slightly and makes this course well worth the price.