Loveleen Tandan

Loveleen Tandan

Loveleen Tandan (Hindi: लवलीन टंडन, Punjabi: ਲਵਲੀਨ ਟੰਡਨ) is an NYFCO Award winning Indian film director and casting director, best known as the co-director of the Golden Globe winning and Academy Award nominated Slumdog Millionaire (2008), alongside the film's principal director Danny Boyle. She was also the casting director for several other critically acclaimed films, including the Golden Lion winning and Golden Globe nominated Monsoon Wedding (2001) and the BAFTA Award nominated Brick Lane (2007).

Background

Tandan was born to Madan Mohan Tandan and Sukhvarsha Tandan and raised in Daryaganj, Delhi. She is the eldest of two sisters and one brother. She attended Hindu College, University of Delhi and studied mass communications at Jamia Millia University.

Career

Tandan first worked with Deepa Mehta on Earth, and later worked with Mira Nair on two films, Vanity Fair (2004) and Monsoon Wedding (2001). Tandan's most recent film is Slumdog Millionaire. She began as the film's casting director but was later appointed by Danny Boyle as "co-director". Tandan has stated that this happened after she "suggested to Danny and Simon Beaufoy, the writer of Slumdog, that it was important to do some of it in Hindi to bring the film alive (One third of the film is in Hindi). They asked me to pen the Hindi dialogues which I, of course, instantly agreed to do. And as we drew closer to the shoot date, Danny asked me to step in as the co-director." The film went on to win five Critics' Choice Awards and four Golden Globes, and has been nominated for eleven BAFTA Awards and ten Academy Awards. Tandan's work as co-director of the film was recognized by the New York Film Critics Online Awards (NYFCCO Awards), which awarded her "Best Director" alongside Boyle.

After the nominations for the 66th Golden Globe Awards were announced, a Chicago film critic launched an online campaign to demand that Tandan, who Danny Boyle appointed as co-director for the film, be nominated for Best Director alongside Boyle at the Golden Globes and the 81st Academy Awards. The campaign organizer Jan Lisa Huttner stated: "If she's co-director during the filmmaking and marketing process, why isn't she co-nominee when the awards are passed out?" She noted "how rare it is for female directors to be in the awards race."

Filmography

Director

• Slumdog Millionaire (2008) (co-director)

Casting director

• Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
• Tandoori Love (2008)
• Brick Lane (2007)
• Migration (2007)
• Vanity Fair (2004)
• Monsoon Wedding (2001)

Casting consultant

• The Namesake (2006)

Art department

• Earth (Indian title: 1947), 1998 - Production Assistant

Further reading

• CNN staff. "'Slumdog' defied the odds." CNN, January 12, 2009.
• Ganguly, Prithwish. "Salaam slum children of Mumbai: Loveleen." Daily News & Analysis, January, 13, 2009.
• IANS. "Slumdog Millionaire' has an Indian co-director." The Hindu, January 11, 2009.
• Setoodeh, Ramin. "The Oscar Doesn’t Go To.... Newsweek, January 10, 2009.
• Huttner, Jan Lisa [1]. 12/11/08 Blog Post

External links

• Loveleen Tandan at IMDb
• Interview