Jag Mundhra

Jagmohan Mundhra is an Indian film-maker, well known for films like Bawander and Provoked. He is originally from Kolkata. [ [http://www.6bridges.com/my_story.asp?SectionID=1000&FolderID=1074&DataID=1019& MyStory - Jagmohan Mundhra] 6bridges.com - A community of global Indian Professionals]

Early life

Mundhra grew up in a Marwari locality in Calcutta, in a conservative family where films were frowned upon. But, he nurtured a secret ambition of becoming a filmmaker when his young contemporaries dreamt of being cricket players or film stars. His childhood as of other Indians of his generation, was a tough one, counting pennies for the tram that rode to the other, affluent side of the city, and withstanding his family's strict traditions. [ [http://www.kavitachhibber.com/main/main.jsp?id=jag_mundhra http://www.kavitachhibber.com/main/main.jsp?id=jag_mundhra] ]

Says Mundhra, “The family was very conservative and my grand mother was very strict and we were allowed to see maybe a couple of films a year and that too of the Har Har Mahadev variety. As a child I never saw myself as a young Marwari boy but a lot beyond that. In those days, the word global citizen was not there, but inside I felt like one." [ [http://www.6bridges.com/my_story.asp?SectionID=1000&FolderID=1074&DataID=1019& **6Bridges.com** ] ]

Life at IIT

A key influence on Mundhra was his admission to the highly competitive and prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). In his words, "I had studied in a Hindi medium school up to 9th grade and always admired people who spoke English fluently. IIT taught me a lot of humility. In my wing, there were students who were from different states, and as far as English went, this person from Bihar who couldn’t speak English to save his life outshone everyone else with his brilliance. I did well, but realized very early on while in IIT that engineering was not for me. I would be very unhappy if I was to live my life being an engineer, but I stuck it out because I didn’t want to let my parents down." He then started an MS abroad in electrical engineering, in Michigan, but after one semester, switched to marketing. [ [http://www.6bridges.com/my_story.asp?SectionID=1000&FolderID=1074&DataID=1019& **6Bridges.com** ] ]

Journey to Being a Filmmaker

Mundhra wrote his marketing thesis on motion pictures. He did a comparative study of marketing practices in Hollywood and Bollywood. The study led him to visit the Bombay film industry and meet people. After finishing his PhD he taught for a year at California State University. HIs stay in California brought him closer to Hollywood. In 1979 he resigned and decided to become a full time filmmaker. [ [http://www.6bridges.com/my_story.asp?SectionID=1000&FolderID=1074&DataID=1019& **6Bridges.com** ] ]

His movie Bawander is about the fight of a poor woman for justice and was based on the sad story of a woman in the state of Rajasthan, Bhanwari Devi [ [http://www.saafa.org/media_coverage.html South Asian American Films and Arts Association ] ] After the film's release Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan called him and said "Aapke bawandar ne bada bawander machaya hai." He gave Rs 50,000 and land for Bhanwari Devi and also money for her son's education. To Mundhra, "It's not a movie about rape, but the empowerment of a woman. This character could be fictitious and yet the story would have had the same powerful message."

He confesses he was "a professor during day, exhibitor at night." [ [http://www.6bridges.com/my_story.asp?SectionID=1000&FolderID=1074&DataID=1019& **6Bridges.com** ] ]

References