Mississippi Masala (2022)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Redundant and unnecessary.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

In 1972, Idi Amin takes power in Uganda and expels all Asians. Jay (Roshan Seth) is heartbroken to leave his homeland. He takes his wife Kinnu and daughter Meena ultimately to Greenwood, Mississippi. Flash forward to 1990, Meena (Sarita Choudhury) is a rebellious teen and crashes her car into Demetrius Williams (Denzel Washington). Jay is still trying to return to his home in Uganda. The family lives at the motel owned by the extended family. Demetrius is a responsible working guy unlike his brothers. Demetrius and Meena start a relationship raising objections from her family.Washington is terrific as always. Choudhury is not as great and the imbalance makes the romance a little wonky. It's probably my one and only complaint. The race relationships from a different point of view is compelling. Jay is a really interesting character with a fascinating story. This romance is definitely something out of the ordinary unlike most Hollywood movies.

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

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.

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 nude 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.