Mississippi Masala: Amazon.ca: Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, Ranjit Chowdhry, Willy Cobbs, Charles S. Dutton, Mohan Gokhale, Yvette Hawkins, Ashok Lath, Natalie Oliver, Karen Pinkston, Rajika Puri, Joe Seneca, Roshan Seth, Anjaan Srivastav, Dipti Suthar, Sharmila Tagore, Varsha Thaker, Mohan Agashe, Tico Wells, Mira Nair: DVD

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Mira Nair, the Indian director, scored an international art-house hit with her feature debut, Salaam Bombay!, a tale of life in the streets of seething urban India. Her next film was a surprising turnabout: Mississippi Masala is a cultural study and a love story set in the rural American south. The love story comes courtesy of Denzel Washington, as a rug cleaner, and Sarita Choudhury (from Nair's Kama Sutra), as the daughter of Indian immigrants running a small-time motel; both give fresh, charming performances. But Nair is equally interested in capturing the feelings of an exile's life, and Roshan Seth, the fine actor who played Nehru in Gandhi, superbly catches the hope and sorrow of dislocation. Although the issues are serious, Nair maintains a breezy, naturalistic approach, and the various ingredients of this masala blend into a rich, flavorful stew. --Robert Horton

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

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4.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars pre-Hotel Rwanda, Nov 19 2009

By

Brian Maitland (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mississippi Masala (DVD)

The DVD has nothing but the movie itself--not a single extra. They could have done a documentary on the 1972 expulsion of people of Indian descent from Uganda which is where this movie starts. It certainly got me interested to wiki info on that especially given we had many Indian immigrants at that time move to Canada from Ugnada.

The story itself is a wonderfully layered look at cultures in collision, ethnic identity and traditions old and new. I felt the weakest link was the female lead Sarita Choudhury. This was her first ever movie so I'll cut her some slack but if you check her imdb filmography that covers 44 appearances in TV and film since then and nothing spectacular stands out. So maybe it was just her. I just wasn't drawn to her character as much as the other Indians in the flick.

Also, considering this came out in 1991, the whole out of Africa setup seems almost eerie when you consider what has happened on the African continent since from Rwanda to the Congo as far as people being displaced (and outright slaughtered in their millions).

Anyway, a very young Denzel Washington is superb in this and strikes just the right tone of a young man trying to make his way in a Mississippi still struggling with its racist past.

The whole racist card, too, is flipped and twisted all around with Indians and blacks in the Deep South having so much in common yet the mixing of these two races causes no end of unintended trouble for both sides in this movie.

This movie sort of bombed at the box office only making $7 million at the time but it deserved a far better fate.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this film, Jun 28 2004

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C. BULLARD "Charlene" (LANSDOWNE, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mississippi Masala (DVD)

I love this film. I saw this film when I was a young. My aunt had free tickets to the first showing at the Ritz, in Philly (The Ritz only shows movies that are not well known, such as independent films, documentaries, etc.) This movie stayed in my mind and now I own it on DVD. It is excellent. I loved Denzel in it and Charles S. Dutton is funny also. If you are a Denzel fan, you must have this one in your collection.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars magnificent film!, May 14 2004

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D. Pawl "Dani" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mississippi Masala (VHS Tape)

If you aren't familiar with Mira Nair, the brilliant Indian filmmaker who has brought us magnificent (and more recent films) like Monsoon Wedding, this is a great introduction to her genius. I happen to be a Denzel Washington fan, and wanted to see his earlier work, which led me to rent this film.

It is set in the South, and is centered on Meena (Sarita Chudhury), an young, ethnically-Indian, Ugandan national who immigrated to the Southern United States with her parents after the uprising of Idi Amin (Ugandan president) who decided that the way to rid the nation of the "Asian problem" was to expel them from the country to begin with. She settles in the States, cleaning hotel bathrooms with her Mum, and living with her parents as a 24 year old woman. Demetrius (Denzel Washington) is a young African-American man who cleans carpets and helps support his family and stays out of trouble. What initially starts out as a "rebound" relationship turns into something more--which upsets both sets of families. Though, Meena and Demetrius are outcast in a White culture, there are still divisions between their races that are reinforced by their parents and relatives. It also is an interesting juxtaposition of Meena's family and their experiences with Black Ugandans (ethnic Indians as the ultimate "untouchables" in the African nation), and how Indians in the U.S. South are viewed in comparison with African-Americans who endured White racism, and, before that, slavery and great oppression for many years.

The acting is beautiful in this film, and the love story of the interracial couple is engaging, funny, and touching. For Mira Nair buffs---she makes an appearance in the wedding scene, early on, as one of the gossipy guests! Hint: She has short black hair.......
Don't miss this beautiful, heartfelt and thoughtful film.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Singular, Lasting, and Still Necessary Achievement
What a wonderful film. Kudos to Mira Nair, all of the actors and crewpeople, the producers, and the extras. Read more

Published on Feb 29 2004 by Fred McGhee

5.0 out of 5 stars Something for everyone
I'm a big fan of Denzel, and all reviewers are right about the quality and sensuality of the love story that is central to this movie. Read more

Published on Oct 2 2003 by Martin S. Milgrim