She is best known for writing films such as Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, and Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay. She also directed the National Award-winning film Little Zizou.
Since 1977 Taraporevala has photographed India’s western city of Mumbai in which she grew up.
Published on BBC
These photographs celebrate the odd and the everyday and provide a significant contribution to the social history of one of India’s most diverse cities.
Her images, cutting across class and community lines, are an insider’s affectionate view. Her photographs explore one of the most populous cities in the world.
The works on display at an upcoming exhibition in Mumbai are personal documents of the city’s eccentrics, its children, its elderly within the landscape: a gentle mirror to the culture and politics of Bombay with the secret sideways glance of a casual observer.
Sooni Taraporevala’s photo exhibition Home in the City opens on 13 October at Mumbai’s Chemould Prescott Road
A camel ride on Mumbai’s Marine Drive in 1977
Actors Lilliput (left) and Stellan Skarsgard on the set of a film in 1987
A synagogue, 2012
Spectators at an air show, Marine Drive, 2005
Image caption A security guard sits on a rope bed at Juhu Airport in 1982
A film shooting on location, 1987
Actors Sarfu and Irrfan Khan (right) blindfolded during a workshop on the film, Salaam Bombay, 1987
One of India’s most famous artists, MF Husain at home, Mumbai 2005. He died in June 2011
A girl looks at the ocean while standing on a beach, Mumbai, 2015
Men laughing while celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi, a Hindu festival, 2016
Naseeruddin Shah (left) and Stellan Skarsgard on the set of a film, 1987
A poster of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Congress party’s centenary celebrations, 1985
The navy band performs ahead of the premiere of the movie Janbaaz at Metro Cinema, 1986
Actor Raj Kapoor at the premiere of Janbaaz while a fan gazes at him, 1986