Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Irishchatter I thought this was such a great little romantic movie. Omg he looked so young in this and when he was with Sarita Choudhury, I was so delighted that they were together because they are such a cute couple! I really really wish we found out where they went in the end, they were just wonderful together! ♡Anyways, let's not go over excited about that! I liked the fact there was so many cultures in this. It was interesting to know that this was about African Indians and African Americans. I thought it was a really good mix, you normally don't see much different culture groups in films and I think it should happen in films nowadays! I think this film was fantastic. I love the setting, the actors, the background,the story line,etc. I can't believe this didn't get an Oscar and that it's so underrated! I give this movie a 9/10!
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 it 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 (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."
Shari 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
