>Ngrewal1 at 23:47, 3 June 2021

2021-06-03T23:47:57Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Fareeda Mehta
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1959|7}}
| hometown =
| occupation = [[Film Director]], [[Screenwriter]]
}}

'''Fareeda Mehta''' (born July 1959) is an [[Indian people|Indian]] film director who makes short films, documentaries and feature films. Also she collaborates closely with the [[Press Trust of India]] and organizations such as [[UNICEF]], [[NCERT]], [[NORAD]] and [[National Film Development Corporation of India|NFDC]].

==Early life and education==
Mehta studied social sciences at [[Tata Institute of Social Sciences]] (TISS) in Bombay and later film directing at the [[Film and Television Institute of India]] (FTII), Pune.<ref name=TheHindu>{{cite news |title=Directors Jocelyn Saab and Fareeda Mehta feel that films can work as a wake up call to women|url=https://archive.ph/20130411021106/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/03/24/stories/2008032450080300.htm |date=24 March 2008|newspaper=The Hindu (newspaper)|accessdate=3 June 2021}}</ref><ref name=cine>[http://parlecinema.blogspot.com/2009/08/kali-salwaar-2002-fareeda-mehta.html Kali Salwaar (2002) - Fareeda Mehta] Cinephilanderer.com website, Published 3 August 2009, Retrieved 3 June 2021</ref>

==Career==
After graduating at the FTII, Pune as a film director, Mehta made her first short film ''Hawa Ka Rang'' in 1989, which was awarded the first prize at the Turin Film Festival. She has also worked on several films directed by [[Kumar Shahani]] and [[Mani Kaul]] as an assistant.

Her first feature film as a director was the 2002 film ''[[Kali Salwar|Kali Salwaar]]'' starring [[Sadiya Siddiqui]], [[Irrfan Khan]], [[Kay Kay Menon]] and [[Vrajesh Hirjee]]. Centred on a Muslim prostitute coming from Muzzafarpur to Mumbai, ''[[Kali Salwar|Kali Salwaar]]'' was an almost abstract odyssey into migration, marginalization, and displacement. Her film is based on a story by [[Saadat Hasan Manto]], the leftist Urdu short story writer of the nineteenth century. Almost the entire film was shot in her neighbourhood in Mumbai, focusing on a lively ''bazaar''. Although the main themes are displacement and the sense of loss in an anonymous metropolis, the setting breathes a striking intimacy. ''Sultana'', the main character, together with her husband and pimp ''Khudabaksh'', soon find out that life in Mumbai is often beyond their control. With nothing left to make ends meet, ''Khudabaksh'' is attracted to fakir mysticism, leaving behind his wife, alone with the desperate wish to find a black garment to wear during ''[[Moharram]]'', the Islamic month of mourning.<ref name=TheHindu2>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/unshackling-sultana/article18437382.ece |author=Fatema Kagalwala|title=Unshackling Sultana (By shifting focus to the macro, Kali Salwar ceases to be a sex worker's story)|date=13 May 2017|newspaper=The Hindu (newspaper)|access-date=3 June 2021}}</ref>

According to ''Fareeda'', [[Kali Salwar|Kali Salwaar]] does not have a message per se, but deals with exchange of energies. In a silent way it creates contemplative spaces in which the audience can pause and let imagination, emotions, and memory roam free. [[Kali Salwar|Kali Salwaar]] has been shown in many international film festivals, including the Indian Panorama in the [[International Film Festival of India]], [[Goteborg Film Festival]], [[Rotterdam International Film Festival]] (2003) and [[Durban International Film Festival]] (2003). It was nominated for 'Best Film' at the Bogota film festival.<ref name=cine/>

In her own words: "Perhaps cinema is the best form to show the unfolding of Destiny. Destiny, not as predetermined fate, but as it is getting made – as an unfolding of time and events within time. It gets made as people meet and exchange – a few words, or a look, or money. Seemingly inconsequential encounters change you forever and each time. In ''Kali Salwaar'', I try to come close to this pulse of random movement and imperceptible ‘happening’".<ref name=TheHindu/>

==Filmography==

===Short films===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Notes
|-
| 1989 || ''Hawa Ka Rang''<ref name=IFFR>[https://iffr.com/en/persons/fareeda-m-mehta Fareeda Mehta profile on International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) website] Retrieved 3 June 2021</ref> ||
|-
| 1994 || ''Paitrik Sampati''<ref name=IFFR/> ||
|-
| 1994 || ''Yaadon Ke Kinaare''<ref name=IFFR/> ||
|}

===Documentary films===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Notes
|-
| 1991 || ''Bhavatarana'' || Worked as a Screenwriter only.
|-
| 1995 || In Search of Greener Pastures<ref name=IFFR/> ||
|}

===Feature films===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Notes
|-
| 1991 || ''[[Kasba (film)|Kasba]]'' || Worked as a Screenwriter only.
|-
| 2002 || ''[[Kali Salwar|Kali Salwaar]]''<ref name=TheHindu/><ref name=IFFR/><ref name=TheHindu2/> ||
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0576552}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Fareeda}}
[[Category:Hindi-language film directors]]
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Film directors from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Film and Television Institute of India alumni]]
[[Category:Indian women screenwriters]]

Fareeda Mehta - Revision history

>Ngrewal1 at 23:47, 3 June 2021