New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has ties to the entertainment industry and the movie world. His mother is Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, who directed the Cannes Golden Lion-winning film Monsoon Wedding (2001) and the Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay!, starring Irrfan Khan. Nair has also spoken about how her son has influenced her career.

This includes him helping her with casting choices and even convincing her to turn down what could have been a mᴀssive directorial opportunity for her career, when he suggested she pᴀss on directing a Harry Potter film. Also, thanks to his mother’s connections, Mamdani appeared in the 2016 Disney movie Queen of Katwe.

Zohran Mamdani Appeared In The Disney Movie Queen Of Katwe

Zohran Mamdani Played ‘Bookie Student’

Released in 2016, Queen of Katwe follows a 10-year-old girl named Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) from rural Uganda. The story shows how she learned how to play chess as a child and became a Woman Candidate Master after winning at the World Chess Olympiad. She became one of the first тιтled female players in Ugandan chess history.

The movie was adapted from an ESPN magazine article, which was also the focus of a book by Tim Crothers. Disney and ESPN Films co-produced the movie, and Mira Nair directed it. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and in theaters in late 2016. The film earned several award nominations for the cast and crew.

The main stars were Madina Nalwanga as Phiona, Lupita Nyong’o (Black Panther) as her mother Nakku, and David Oyelowo (Selma) as the man who taught her chess. Mamdani also worked on the movie, both behind the scenes and in a small cameo appearance. He played “Bookie Student” in the film.

As for his work on the crew, he was credited as the third ᴀssistant director and music supervisor. Other than working as the music supervisor, he also performed a rap song on the soundtrack, “#1 Spice,” under the name Young Cardamom. They also released it as a music video, with HAB and Lupita Nyong’o, and his mother directing.

Zohran Mamdani Also Convinced His Mother To Turn Down Directing Harry Potter

Mamdani Told His Mother To Make The Nakesake Instead

Zohran Mamdani also had some pull with his mother’s other career choices. Mira Nair did an interview at the 2018 Jaipur Literature Festival and talked about Warner Bros. offering her the chance to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She said that it was Mamdani who convinced her to turn down Harry Potter (via Variety).

“I was deep in that melancholy. That’s what inspired me to make ‘The Namesake,’ because Jhumpa [Lahiri] had written in it of this terrible melancholy of losing a parent in a foreign country, which is exactly what I was experiencing.”

Nair then said her son learned to read from Harry Potter books. She asked him if she should give up The Namesake to make Harry Potter, and he gave her the best advice. “He said to me, ‘Mama, many good directors can make ‘Harry Potter,’ but only you can make ‘The Namesake.’”

Nair also said that it was Zohran Mamdani who convinced her to hire Kal Penn for The Namesake. Nair said she was looking at big names, but Mamdani told her to watch Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and Kumar’s performance in that movie convinced her. “It was such a valuable, beautiful piece of advice,” Nair said.

Source: Variety