Mississippi Masala

Mississippi Masala (film)

1992 - UK / USA - 118 min. - Feature, Color
Director Mira Nair
Genre/Type Drama, Romance, Comedy
Flags Not For Children, Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Explicit Language, Profanity
MPAA Rating R

Keywords Black (African-American), business, community, cross-cultural-relations, disapproval, family, love, lover, motel, parent, racial-tension, romance, southerner, culture-clash, East India
Plot Lines Cross-cultural-relations (coping with), Cross-cultural-relations (Black /Indian), Family-interaction, Love (with cultural differences), Slice-of-life
Set In American South

Produced by Orion

Mississippi Masala is a tale of how prejudice makes victims and instigators of us all. In 1972 Indian Roshan Seth, a resident of Uganda, is forced by the bigoted Idi Amin regime to take his family and flee the country. He vows to hate and distrust all blacks--at least until he is able to reclaim the real estate stolen from him by the Ugandan government. Flash-forward to 1990: Seth and his family have settled in Mississippi. Seth's daughter Sarit Choudhury makes the acquaintance of African-American Denzel Washington, the prosperous manager of a carpet-cleaning business. At first attracted to Sarit because he is fascinated by her African background, Denzel slowly falls in love with the girl. The situation causes Seth to exercise the same racial prejudice with which he has been victimized. Ironically, Washington behaves just as foolishly, blamings Seth's ethnic chauvinism on a drop in his business. The point to which Mississippi Masala is clearly leading is that both Seth and Washington must learn to bury their pasts and their prejudices before they will be able to go on with their lives. -- Hal Erickson

Denzel Washington - Demetrius
Sarita Choudhury - Mina
Roshan Seth - Jay
Sharmila Tagore - Kinnu
Charles S. Dutton - Tyrone
Joe Seneca - Williben
Immaculate Byakatonda - Okelo's Mother
Sadie Carr - Mildre
J.D. Barrett - 2nd Rapper
Ranjit Chowdhry - Anil
Willy Cobbs - Skillet
E.W. Colvin - Grandcraw
Richard Crick - White Customer
James Dale - Businessman
Jimmy Din - Bharat
Dewey Buffington - Evangelist
Patsy Garrett - 2nd Shop-at-Home Anchor Person
Mohan Gokhale - Pontiac
Dillon Rozell Gross - Police Officer
Jim Haffey - White Truck Driver
Larry Haggard - Joe
Yvette Hawkins - Aunt Rose
Cyreio Hughes - D.J.
Ashok Lath - Harry Patel
Bonnie M. Lubega - Teacher
Reverend Fred Matthews - Grandaddy
Konga Mbandu - Okelo
Tony McGhee - 1st Rapper
Kevin McNeil - Clarence
Shung Moo-joo - Chinese Customer
Argentina Moore - 4th Rapper
Emanuel Mudara - Young Okelo
Joyce Murrah - Lady at Lusco's
Mira Nair - 1st Gossip
Sahira Nair - Young Mina
Joseph Olita - Idi Amin
Natalie Oliver - Alicia LeShay
Amrit Panesar - Mrs. Bedi
Phavin Parbario - Young Jay
Karen Pinkston - Mrs. Morgan
Hollis Pippin - Sylvester Artiste III
Rajika Puri - 2nd Gossip
Buddy St Amant - Biloxi Cop
Alix Henry Sanders - Barber
Alix W. Sanders - Postman
Ben Burford - Bank Manager
Sammy E.D. Senkumba - Taxi Driver
Rick Senn - Piggly Wiggly Checker
Nora Boland - 1st Shop-at-Home Anchor Person
Sam Sherrill - Phinias T. Turnbull
Tre'demont Spearman - 3rd Rapper
Anjan Srivastava - Jammubhai
Mayambala Ssekasi - Prison Captain
Dipti Suthar - Chanda
Stacy Swinford - Bubba
Mahlon Bouldin - Student
Jaimini Thaker - Kanti Bhai
Varsha Thaker - Kusumben
Mohan Agashe - Kanti Napkin
Michael Wawuyo - Soldier on Bus
Tico Wells - Dexter
Jerone Wiggins - James
Muteta Wilberforce - Soldier at Roadblock
Sharon Williams - Tadice

Credits and description provided by American Movie Guide, http://allmovie.com

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