Mississippi Masala

After Salaam Bombay expectations run high with the next outing being "Mississippi Masala" for Mira Nair. And in all honesty "Mississippi Masala" has a soul in itself. There are many layers in the movie which are subtly dealt with and handled succinctly. For starters the plot predominantly centred around Indian family one would expect the usual "laugh-at-me" tracks and should admit it doesn't succumb to it. It's neither taking mickey out of the Black community. Both the sides of the coin are impartially moderated. The director deserves kudos for efficiently managing to do the tight-rope walking.

Sarita Chowdhary:: Essentially the movie is woman-centric and hence she gets the meaty-pie. Has various shades to her role and Sarita seem to be at ease in the garb of Meena. As rightly justified in the movie, she could be easily mistaken for a Mexican. And Mira Nair does portray her "Mistress of Spices" quite well.

Denzel Washington:: His performance surely makes you feel that he delivers goods that is class-apart. The writing should take the blame for any shortcoming on developing his character otherwise he is nothing short of cent percent.

Roshan Seth:: For some reason, I was constantly getting the feeling that I am watching a character who is masked under Naseeruddin Shah. Perhaps the role was written for Naseer in the first place. And yes, Roshan Seth gets the diction spot on.

Sharmila:: Doesn't get much but she is good in her own right.

The other Bollywood crew lend adequate support (Mohan Gokhale, Mohan Agashe & Anjan Srivastava).

Music by L. Subramaniam neatly blends with the narration.

The only part which deserved better writing was the way the lead characters meet and start to like each other which I would safely say is a minor aberration which can be ignored.

Nonetheless, its a good watch.

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.

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.

This movie showed one thing that is totally true about many Indians in America (I don't know about England). Many Indians who immigrate to this country start acting and behaving like they are white. Sometimes they forget that they are not even white (I am guilty of that sometimes too, probably even more because I grew up here). Denzel Washington points that out to Roshan Seth very well in this movie. "You are no more than a few shades from my complexion." And then Jammu point out to Anil how he has started to act American (probably means white American), and Anil says, "So what? I'm living in America! You don't like it? Go back to India!"

Overall, it's a really good movie. I like it even more than "Monsoon Wedding," and I feel this movie was very underrated. My seventh grade teacher recommended this movie a long time ago (actually a few mos. after I saw it myself.) I myself have been recommending it to some of my non-Indian college friends who have seen Monsoon Wedding.

I love this movie. I first saw it as a preteen and did not understand the concept. I have recently got the DVD as a gift and watch it over and over again and learn something else from it each time. Sarita Choudhury is one of the best actresses of our time and I respect her decision to not want to go "Hollywood". She has appeared in movies with substance and a message unlike the movies that are coming out in mainstream Hollywood. Denzel Washington is a great actor in this movie as well. Playing Demitrius, you really see his versatility as an actor. Mississippi Masala touches a new kind of racism not shown in movies before. Dark skin vs. light skin seems to go across every ethnicity in the world and I respect Mira Nair for making this film. Although the movie or its actors didn't receive the attention or awards (i.e. an Oscar) for their extraordinary performance, this is a must see movie and it will change your mind about the caliber of movies you choose to see from now on.