Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love is a 1996 Indian historical erotic romance film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Mira Nair. The first portion of the film is based on "Utran" ("Hand Me Downs"), a short story in Urdu by the Indian writer Wajida Tabassum. The film takes its title from the ancient Indian text, the Kama Sutra. It stars Naveen Andrews, Sarita Choudhury, Ramon Tikaram, Rekha, and Indira Varma. The English-language film was produced by Indian, British, German and Japanese studios.