Mississippi Masala

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source: Mississippi Masala

Mississippi Masala is a little bit difficult to rate. It's a bit dated now, but still has enough going for it that it is fairly good film. (spoilers) Between the 2 stories, the main love affair and secondary moving away from home and memories, I found the Uganda foundation story with memories to be quite good and absorbing, while the love interest poorly written and conceived. The movie does pretty well until it tries to conjure up conflict based on racial friction - this is where the dialog starts to break down. Dialog starts to include subjects like "you people" and other generalizations. The characters especially Demetrius and Mina lack what should be clarity to cut through the tension - and that's the problem. It's too contrived. I thought the acting was mostly good. You can tell it's Choudhury's first big movie or part. Roshan Seth commands all the scenes he's in. The ending was well done, and the secondary plot magnificently completed. It's enough to encourage watching the movie just for that part of it

Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, Roshan Seth, Sharmila Tagore, Charles S. Dutton 1992 Synopsis: An Indian family (husband, wife and 6 yr old daughter Mina) are expelled from Uganda under the reign of dictator Idi Amin. The family eventually moves to the U.S. When Mina grows up she finds herself caught between cultures (Africa, India, America etc), and considers herself a "mix masala". She later falls in love with a black carpet cleaner (Denzel Washington) only to stir up a whole heap of trouble among her family, culture and community. My Review: I love it!! Written by Sooni Taraporevala, and directed by Mira Nair, this movie came out in '92, but I did not see it until 2000. It was so well done, there should be more films like this. The romance was very nicely scripted, and the story was very accurate in its depiction of what happens when an Indian girl has an affair with a non-Indian in America, how the family reacts etc. Also, certain scenes are so funny, you half to stop the tape to finish cracking up! Interesting, fun, and heartwarming. Excellent!!!

This is an intimate look at Indians from Africa in America that are just trying to do the best they can and still maintain their values and it was made into a film when the director discovered that many of the motels in the south are owned by Indians. Story is about an Indian family that was ousted from Uganda in the early 70's when Idi Amin started to kick out all Asians. Jay (Roshan Seth) was a lawyer in Africa but had to take his wife Kinnu (Sharmila Tagore) and his young daughter Mina out of the country and would end up in Greenwood, Mississippi. Years later Mina (Sarita Choudhury) who is 24 still lives with her parents who run a motel and they expect her to marry an Indian gentleman. One day Mina is involved in a traffic accident and meets a young black man named Demetrius (Denzel Washington) and after exchanging address's he asks her out on a date. They start to date but keep it secret from her parents until they are caught by fellow Indians. *****SPOILER ALERT***** Demetrius owns a carpet cleaning business and many of his clients are the Indian motel owners and when word spreads of their relationship his business starts to go downhill which puts him in trouble with the bank. Mina loves Demetrius but he is seriously hurt by the reaction of not only the Indians in the community but of her parents. This film was directed by Mira Nair who has added so much to films with her poignant views of Indian culture trying to survive in America and she had made a big impact with her first feature "Salaam Bombay!" and would later make the splendid "Monsoon Wedding". One of the interesting things about this story is that we get to see why this family had to come to America instead of just having the film start with them already in Mississippi. While this is an interesting and provocative script what lies at the core of this film is a simple love story that is relevant to this day. Washington was just emerging as an important actor and he's solid as usual but the film's star is really by newcomer Choudhury. This was her first role and even though at times she appears nervous she turns in a very good performance. It cannot be easy to be in your first film and have * scenes but she evidently came through alright and shows enough freshness and charm to practically steal the film. Film goes on a tad long and the last 20 minutes seem obvious but this is an intriguing story and Nair is an important director who has again shown her observances of transplanted Indians in America.

I have to disagree with the other comments. I think that this movie is entirely in your face when it comes to race relations. One would think that all African Americans and Indians talked about was how they were not white. I also found the protagonists to be selfish and annoying. One would think if Mina's clichéd "what about me's" didn't get on people's' nerves, then her general disrespectful attitude and nastiness would. I found Demetrius to be disrespectful as well. Mina's family was upset with him because of his skin color? Maybe, just maybe it was the fact that they caught him having sex with her daughter - and yes, call me a curmudgeon, but I think I agree with traditional Indian culture, which seems to be against having sex after a couple of dates. Maybe I'm just not liberated enough! In general, the plot unfolded slowly, and besides the assisine dialogues, much of it just didn't click. Why, for example, if he was such a swell guy, as the movie tries to present him, would Demetrius hit on Mina when Harry was right there in the first place? Denzel is of course a great actor, but they just didn't write for him here. The only appealing aspect of this movie was the father and his story.

This film begins in the early 1970s in Uganda. Idi Amin, the insane dictator, has just announced that all non-blacks must leave the country. So, a young Meena and her parents are forced to leave the only place they've ever lived. While they are Africans, their heritage is Indian. The film picks up two decades later. The family now lives in Mississippi of all places--in a small Indian community. They work for an Indian-owned motel. Meena (Sarita Choudhury) meets a nice young black man, Demetrius (Denzel Washington). And, after dating a very short time, they sleep together...and are discovered by her relatives. The family is incensed--presumably because Demetrius is black. And, lots of chaos and repercussions occur. My feeling is that the script missed the point a bit. While only idiots might be angry at the interracial angle, I guess I'm old fashioned and can see the family getting upset that Meena is spreading her legs after only two dates. In movies, this is a good thing--in real life, pregnancy and STDs might be the result. So, had Meena and Demetrius had a deeper connection before they were discovered, the film would have made a lot more sense--and the conflict would have been much more interesting. As it is, the relationship between Meena and Demetrius is unconvincing and makes little sense. And, speaking of that, the film ends very, very, very abruptly and left me feeling very flat. Overall, a film with some real possibilities but that just didn't come together well. A bit of a disappointment.

This movie suffered greatly from trying too hard. The attempted blend of romance, comedy, political commentary, and racial issues came across uneven and not particularly enlightening. A movie with these themes would seem to have great potential, but it was greatly hampered by an trite, unoriginal script ("Home is where the heart is, and my heart is with you" is its parting phrase) and dull, uninspired direction. Denzel Washington's acting is excellent, but even he cannot save this dull, insipid movie, hampered as he is by the above elements, not to mention a leading lady whose acting is only slightly better than that of Ruby Keeler in one of her worst big-budget movies. As Mina, Sarita Choudhury's acting is dull when it is meant to be sincere and completely unconvincing when trying to convey the true emotional anguish that her character supposedly feels when separated from her "true love," a man that I believe she has known less than a week. The racial issues the movie tries to raise (interracial relationships between people considered by "whites" to be "of color" and therefore the same) is an important one, as is the treatment of African-Indians in the latter half of the twentieth century, but many of the minor characters from both races are obviously based on some of the worst stereotypes of both races (Indian cheap motel owners and lazy black teenage boys) that I couldn't seem to muster any sympathy for them. The ending, where most movies would attempt to at least make clear their object, seems in this movie to be completely randomly chosen. After deciding to return to Mississippi from a trip to Sudan to try to reclaim his lost property, Mina's father Jay wanders out onto a street in Uganda to watch people dance, and then takes a completely random stranger's child from his parents' arms and continues to watch the dancing. My only guess is that they ran out of budget and decided to just stop the movie there. Overall, this movie is not really worth watching. If you want to study immigrant or minority experiences in America, do so with a more professional film.

Some may think that all it is about is the race relations between Asian Indians and Blacks in Southern USA. I saw it as collection of stories, each running along its own thread while impacting others at the same time. There is a love story between a Black guy and an Asian Indian (by way of Africa) girl, there is a man trying to regain his lost homeland (which some may consider artificial), there are others who are trying to fit into the new-new-South, a younger brother who is a bother and a motel owner who doesn't understand the people around him. All in all, a well knit story.

When Mississippi Masala opened it was a B movie or was treated as such. Denzil Washington was riding high with his Malcolm X role in the news. I wondered what made him decide on such a low key movie. I got hold of the cassette and saw it. Then I knew why. The plot is excellent and this must have been the reason why other notable actors (Charles Dutton comes to mind; and the actors who played Meena's Father (Rohan Seth, I think, who came in Gandhi), and the actor who played Denzil's father. The other actors were magnificent and were perfect for their parts. I particular enjoyed Sunil and friends and Denzil's brother. What was most admirable in this movie is the writer/director's ability to merge three cultures (Uganda, India, & Southern USA) into an enchanting love story. Mira Nir has made her mark with this movie. Not surprising the critics loved it. I New York the movie opened quietly then quickly became popular by word-of-mouth. Many women went to see Denzil but came away enjoying a unique and interesting love story with racism from another angle as it's strong undertone. Go see it if you haven't already.