Mira Nair’s FIRST reaction to son Zohran Mamdani’s New York Mayor win: ‘You beauty’

Hours after New Yorkers elected young leftist Zohran Mamdani as their next Mayor, his mother and Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair was all praise on his electoral victory in the crucial election. Nair reposted filmmaker Zoya Akhtar’s Instagram story, which was captioned “Zohran, you beauty”, with emojis of hearts and fireworks. 

Shortly after the results were announced, Nair took to Instagram and re-shared a message originally posted by Zoya Akhtar, “Zohran, you beauty,” and paired it with Jay-Z’s iconic song Empire State of Mind to celebrate his victory. 

Mira Nair also expressed pride, recalling a 1988 Cannes incident where her mother introduced herself as “the producer of the director” for Nair’s film Salaam Bombay. Nair now calls herself “the producer of the candidate,” praising Mamdani’s vision for equality, justice and respect for working people. Since Mamdani’s victory, Nair has been trending all over globally online. For the unversed, her films, such as Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake, have profoundly captured Indian identity and immigrant experiences, with her influence now extending into American politics through her son Zohran Mamdani’s historic mayoral win in New York City.

Zohran Mamdani wins in New York  City Mayoral race

Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old Ugandan-born son of acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and academic Mahmood Mamdani. With almost 90 per cent of the votes counted, Mamdani won decisively in the New York City mayoral race, defeating Independent challenger and former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani, a Democratic socialist and Queens assemblyman, captured over 50 per cent of the vote, translating to over one million ballots in a turnout that shattered records with more than two million total voters, the highest in over five decades. His victory marks him as the city’s first Muslim mayor and first of South Asian descent, a milestone hailed by supporters as a beacon for immigrant communities.