Who are Zohran Mamdani’s parents? An award-winning director and a political commentator

Zohran Mamdani, a mayoral frontrunner in New York City, has a notable parentage: his mother is award-winning Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, and his father is Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani. Both his parents have had significant careers that have influenced his political outlook, a subject of inquiry on the campaign trail. Mira Nair, known for films like "Salaam Bombay!" and "Monsoon Wedding," has a career spanning over four decades, often exploring themes of culture, migration, and belonging, and telling stories from marginalized perspectives. She met Mahmood Mamdani, a political scientist, in Uganda in 1989. They married in 1991, and Zohran was born later that year. Mahmood Mamdani, who was expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972, is a prominent scholar of colonialism and political violence. He holds a professorship at Columbia University and previously directed the Makerere Institute of Social Research. His influential concept of the "bifurcated state" examines colonial governance structures. Both Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani have faced scrutiny and criticism from pro-Israel advocacy groups due to their public stances on Israel and Palesti... download the app to read more