Avinash Patalay 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.

bandw By the order of Ugandan strongman Idi Amin all Asians were forced to leave Uganda in 1972, since it was felt that they were draining the wealth of the country. Jay (an Asian Indian), his wife Kinnu, and young daughter Mina were victims of this forced emigration. Jay was a lawyer and Ugandan native who had deep roots in the country and did not want to leave and held out to the very end of the 90 day deadline. The first act of "Mississippi Masala" takes place in Uganda and details the frightful details of the expulsion of Jay's family.Next we jump some twenty years where we find Jay's family in Greenwood, Mississippi where they are living in a community of Indians who are running a motel. Jay and Mina are doing odd jobs around the motel while Kinnu is running a small liquor store. The story only really gets underway after Mina runs her car into the back of Demetrius Williams' truck. After the accident they exchange cards, and in that exchange is also exchanged a spark of interest that quickly develops into an intimate relationship. Since Demetrius is a black man it is not long before the Indian community is dead-set opposed to the relationship and the black community follows suit after the Indians boycott Demetrius' carpet cleaning company. It is here that the movie has some deep things to say about racism. Apparently bias exists even within races-- among the Indians Mina is considered too dark to marry well. Even though Jay's family was victimized in Uganda because of their race, they cannot seem to rise to the acceptance of Mina and Demetrius' relationship. It is a bit of irony that Mina has lived in Africa while none of Demetrius' family has ever been there.Going beyond the racial undertones, we are treated to a look at how Indian immigrants to America find themselves as strangers in a strange land. It is interesting to see how an immigrant culture integrates itself into Amaerica. The older people understandably cling to the old ways while the younger people are more flexible. For the most part both cultures are ultimately enriched.This movie encourages further pursuit of its themes. Maybe studying a bit of Ugandan history or seeing movies like, "Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait," or "The Last King of Scotland." For further insights into the Indian immigration experience see, "The Namesake," or "The Journey" (which also stars Rohshan Seth). For racism in America, among dozens there are, "In the Heat of the Night," and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."

misshajarah I have watched this film over 10 times and i still enjoy watching it. it is a beautiful, romantic yet sad story of a young girl's life changing. she is at first lost in Mississippi but she finds hapinness again in Denzel Washington. I strongly recommend this film to people who may feel lost in new places in the world. As a young lady from Uganda i watch this film and remenisce about my childhood and leaving my home and coming to a new place in the United Kingdom. Mina is the only child therefore she's got no siblings to talk to about how she really feels although she is quite close to her parents. I think there's a sense of loneliness in the film and sadness. However there is also a lot of comedy in the film from Mina's friend's and the romance is beautiful. In the end love conquers all and Mina and Denzel decide to go away together to clean hotels... Aah Aah.

Maria I first saw this movie in 1993 and was struck by its authenticity, particularly the scenes set in Uganda. The dialog captures the way we Uganda Asians speak and the theme of racism is also one we are familiar with. One line in the movie captures this better than any other "My dear, she can be dark and rich or she can be fair and poor but she can't be dark and poor and expect to marry someone like Hari Kumar". The theme of embedded racism in Indian society hadn't been tackled as well this in English-language movies before. ("East is East" and "Bend It Like Beckam" and countless others have since touched on this.) So for a good, entertaining script and a funny and accurate portrayal of Ugandans in exile, I give this movie 7 out of 10. Some of the acting was not up to the standard of the script and the central love story was not engaging enough. If you've enjoyed "East is East", etc, you'll enjoy this one.