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Mississippi Masala

Mississippi Masala

List Price: $19.94
Your Price: $17.95
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Intense, sexy and honest!
Review: A beautiful love story in Mississippi about very real people and the potential for those of other races and nationalities to fall in love. Also, a HISTORY LESSON regarding real life events in Uganda. A happy ending for the lovers but in your face racism in the 90's STILL rears it's very ugly head.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the decades best
Review: a very compelling film that deals really strongly with interracial romance.it collides with diffrences and themes really well.very good film and a reminder of how life is viewed by many on diffrences in race and class.it kinda reminds me of mrs.robinson with a twist.very good soundtrack.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another Great Film from Mira Nair!
Review: Fans of Mira Nair's Oscar nominated SALAAM BOMBAY! will not be disappointed by this unassuming little movie about an interracial romance in Mississippi.

Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury are a pleasure to watch in this engaging story about a love affair between a Black man (who's never been to Africa) and an Indian woman (who has never been to India) and how thier romance causes strife in a small Southern town.

Washington and Choudhury have amazing chemistry onscreen, transforming this modern day romance into an updated Romeo & Juliet with a spicy twist. The anxiety and strife their union causes among family members and town locals is realistically portrayed without falling into the trap of being being preachy or contrived.

Against all this, a subplot in the story revolves around the loss of a homeland and friendship between Choudhury's proud Ugandan national father and the Black Ugandan friend he left behind during Idi Amin's reign of terror.

A must see film and the only one I'm aware of that explores the relationship between African Americans and ethnic Indians.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Beautiful, instructive, yet falls short
Review: For many years Denzel Washington has been my favorite actor. He has a presence, a style and class, that set him apart, and has become truly expert at picking his projects. "Mississippi Masala" is one of those projects, and I certainly understand his wise selection of this subject matter.

This story of a blossoming romance between a black Mississippi man and a young woman born in Uganda of Asian Indian parents, yet raised in the U.S., certainly has its appeal. The Indians are a quiet minority in U.S. culture, and it's interesting to see the work of lauded Indian director Mira Nair. She presents a balanced and realistic view of black family life as well as the little-discussed (in U.S. culture) experience of those Indian people brought to Uganda to work for the British, and who were cast out by dictator Idi Amin in the 1970s for not being black.

The racial themes presented here are fresh and appealing in their interest, and explain a subculture that we Americans rarely consider. The surprise (for the supporting characters) comes when Washington and gorgeous co-star Sarita Choudhury find themselves intensely attracted to each other. Her childhood among a black majority makes her interest in Washington quite natural, but only to her as far as the characters in the film are concerned. It's not just Sarita who is eye candy, but the cinematography in general is beautifully done as well.

Yet something here just doesn't make me fall in love with the movie. Perhaps it's that the conflict comes too little too late, or that the exposition of the Ugandan experience takes so long to develop that there's not enough room in my mind to fully develop the romance. As a sheer fan of Washington's work, also, there's just not enough of him to go around for me, and his character is certainly not as fully drawn as many he has played.

Overall I'd say this is well worth a rental, but I wouldn't be interested in seeing it again. It left me wanting more, which is sometimes a good thing for a film and sometimes a disappointment. It's a "little" story, not a grand epic that could be justified as a three-hour film. So, maybe the real trouble is that Nair tries to tell too much story in a too-small frame, and doesn't go deep enough into several aspects of the story as I would have liked. Too bad.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Beautiful, instructive, yet falls short
Review: For many years Denzel Washington has been my favorite actor. He has a presence, a style and class, that set him apart, and has become truly expert at picking his projects. "Mississippi Masala" is one of those projects, and I certainly understand his wise selection of this subject matter.

This story of a blossoming romance between a black Mississippi man and a young woman born in Uganda of Asian Indian parents, yet raised in the U.S., certainly has its appeal. The Indians are a quiet minority in U.S. culture, and it's interesting to see the work of lauded Indian director Mira Nair. She presents a balanced and realistic view of black family life as well as the little-discussed (in U.S. culture) experience of those Indian people brought to Uganda to work for the British, and who were cast out by dictator Idi Amin in the 1970s for not being black.

The racial themes presented here are fresh and appealing in their interest, and explain a subculture that we Americans rarely consider. The surprise (for the supporting characters) comes when Washington and gorgeous co-star Sarita Choudhury find themselves intensely attracted to each other. Her childhood among a black majority makes her interest in Washington quite natural, but only to her as far as the characters in the film are concerned. It's not just Sarita who is eye candy, but the cinematography in general is beautifully done as well.

Yet something here just doesn't make me fall in love with the movie. Perhaps it's that the conflict comes too little too late, or that the exposition of the Ugandan experience takes so long to develop that there's not enough room in my mind to fully develop the romance. As a sheer fan of Washington's work, also, there's just not enough of him to go around for me, and his character is certainly not as fully drawn as many he has played.

Overall I'd say this is well worth a rental, but I wouldn't be interested in seeing it again. It left me wanting more, which is sometimes a good thing for a film and sometimes a disappointment. It's a "little" story, not a grand epic that could be justified as a three-hour film. So, maybe the real trouble is that Nair tries to tell too much story in a too-small frame, and doesn't go deep enough into several aspects of the story as I would have liked. Too bad.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful!
Review: I am very impressed with this particular movie. It was well-scripted and the cast is dynamic. Sarita Choudhury and Denzel Washington are superb actors. Roshan Seth should have been nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Mina's father. This movie really is Mira Nair's shining light.

I like the way the movie handles the reactions by both families to the interracial union of Mina and Demetrius. There are very few movies that can capture the emotions that go along with such a sensitive and controversial matter. Most importantly the opinions, thoughts, and traditions, both negative and positive, of both the Indian and Black communities are fairly communicated through the movie.

Also, this is probably one of the few movies that brings the horrific realities of Idi Amin Dada's regime to the mainstream. Many people unfortuanately do not know who this maniac was(is) or what he did to Uganda, its people, and the rest of Africa because it is not taught in many schools anymore. This book definately sheds some light on this vital part of world history.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: DVD was worth the wait!
Review: I have waited years for the release of this DVD. It does not have a lot of extras but the picture is clear and the movie just as wonderful as I remember.

Other reviewers have given opinions about the movie. I just want to point out that this is one of only two romantic films with Denzel Washington and this is the only one where he plays someone who is both sexy and monogomus.

The movie tells the story of Mina's father played by Roshan Seth and his struggle with what happend when their family was expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin. The romance between Mina and Dimitrius is a terrific plot device that forces Mina's father to examine his views of the past. He has to resolve his feelings for his best friend, Okelo, who he felt betrayed him because of race in order to get on with his life.

The resoloution of the love story is not given as much time as I would like but you do know the outcome.

Buy this movie it is well worth it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love this film
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love this film
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Great Movie!
Review: I myself have seen a lot of good movies. This one is THE best


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