Mississippi Masala

In the early 20th century, the English government moved several people from India to Uganda to build the railroad. Some of the Indians stayed and became lawyers, physicians, etc. When Idi Amin came to power in the early 1970s, he expelled all non-black Africans. Some of the Indians moved to Mississippi and began running motels.

"Mississippi Masala" focuses on this. Mina (Sarita Choudhury) is the daughter of an Indian family who fled Uganda for Mississippi. She develops a relationship with Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a local man. Her family does not approve of her dating a black man, and Demetrius' friends don't like him dating an Indian woman.

The movie shows many things, in particular how both the blacks and the Indians were displaced from their ancestral lands. Also, it shows how the blacks are racist towards the Indians and vice versa. As Demetrius reminds Mina's father: "Your skin is just a couple of shades from mine." Regardless of whether or not these sorts of things happen a lot, the movie does a very good job with it all.

The theme of interracial romance is the setting for this fine drama and focus on the divisions between black Americans and South Asian communities. Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury are appealing as the central figures from different backgrounds and struggle to stay together amid the controversy that swirls around them. Washington and Choudhury have a nice chemistry that works very well in this picture and makes their romance even more believable. They have their share of ups and downs and face challenges to their relationship like any normal couple. The movie touches on the origins of the immigrant status of the South Asians which began when they were expelled from Uganda many years earlier. The resentment towards blacks is a recurring theme in the movie as they settle into their new communities in the deep south. The film has a bouncy music score that adds flavor to the story and a nice cast weaves everything together in fine style.

It is rare for what amounts to a simple love story to cover as much ground as this film ultimately does.

There's a political layer, with the 1970s era unrest in Uganda being a primary driver and motivator for much of the other decisions made by the characters. There's a racial layer, with racial tension in Africa spilling over into reciprocal racial tension in Mississippi in turn. There's a layer for interpersonal relationships as well, with Demetrius and Meena's growing love and the estranged friendship with her father and his friend back in Uganda.

Weaving all these layers together requires a very deft suite of actors and a very deft director and, for the most part, everyone is up to snuff. There are some very high quality acting performances indeed in this film.

Ultimately, the film is about the first generation of an immigrant family struggling to come to grips with their diminished situation. Some members of this first generation embrace the change and attempt to adopt many of the idioms and customs of their new home, and the second generation most definitely does this, but the patriarch of the family struggles to accept that his life in Uganda is essentially gone. The entire film builds to a climax that ultimately has nothing to do with Demetrius and Meena's relationship.

The real climax is the father's ultimately forced acceptance of his new situation. The interracial relationship is the driver, but the destination is purely internal for the family patriarch.

A nod has to go to Denzel Washington for opting into this small-budget film of exceeding quality when his star was clearly on the rise and such films could easily have been deemed beneath him. Choudry is positively mesmerizing, and she steals many scenes with her subtle facial expressions and body language. Clearly, she was a gem that needed a better setting for her later career.

I'd love to give a cast award, because the cast is almost univerally above average, which is very rare for a film. Some very bit parts become part of a larger tapestry that is very worth one's time to witness.

This film discusses race from another point of view that wasn't really known to me and I liked that. Mira Nair talks about race issues between Indians and Blacks when they are more often that that from the same place. It really comments a lot about the situation in Africa where Black Africans want to keep Africa Black. I didn't know who's side to be on, but that's not the point. They had to learn to deal instead of trying to be better than the other. Sarita Choudhury is a wonderful actress and I like her decision to act in more Indie films. Denzel was great, of course! Get this movie! 8/10

This is a very enjoyable, NON-FORMULA film. It manages to show the inescapable ironies of rascism from a variety of viewpoints. The love story is earthy and sensual, yet tasteful as well.