Bose earned her breakthrough with her first feature film, the 2005 biographical drama Amu, which was based on her own novel of the same name. The film which chronicles the attacks on Sikhs in Delhi in 1984, garnered critical acclaim and the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English. Bose then worked as the assistant director for the 2012 war film Chittagong, which she also co-wrote.
Bose is also an active philanthropist and supports various charitable organisations. She was married to filmmaker Bedabrata Pain, but the couple separated following the death of their son.
Early life
Shonali Bose was born on 3 June 1965 in Calcutta, West Bengal, and spent most of her young adult life in Mumbai and New Delhi. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Delhi University and master's degree in political science from Columbia University, New York. She has been an activist since her time at Miranda House in Delhi University. Bose was also involved in theatre as an actor throughout school and college. Bose did not originally plan to be involved in film, however she saw it as a better outlet for activism after realizing how far removed her Ph.D. studies were from activism.[1] On her film work she says, "Film is the means with which I want to communicate ideas about social and political change."[1]
Career
Early career and breakthrough with Amu (1999-2010)
Bose worked as an organizer for the National Lawyers Guild for about a year. She directed live community television in Manhattan before joining the MFA Directing Program at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Early in her career, Bose directed such short films as The Gendarme Is Here and Undocumented, and the feature-length documentary Lifting the Veil; the productions were screened at numerous film festivals.
Bose made her feature film debut with the 2005 drama Amu; she had also written the production's screenplay.[2][3] The film released in India in January to critical acclaim and positive response from the audience. Amu was screened at international film festivals in Berlin and Toronto. Bose won several national and international awards for the film, including the FIPRESCI Critics Award, the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English and the Gollapudi Srinivas Award for Best Debut Director.[4] Bose wrote the novel Amu, which based on the screenplay which released simultaneously with the film.[5][6]
Bose has committed to write the pilot episode for an untitled television series based on Diksha Basu's novel The Windfall.[7]
She is currently shooting for the Amazon Original, The Notorious Girls of Miranda House, produced by Pritish Nandy Communications.[14]
Personal life
She was married to Bedabrata Pain but is now separated.[15] The couple's son Ishan Bose-Pain died on 13 September 2010 at age 16.[16] Bose identifies as bisexual.[17]
