Mississippi Masala

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Mississippi Masala
Directed by Mira Nair
Written by Sooni Taraporevala
Starring Denzel Washington
Roshan Seth
Sharmila Tagore
Sarita Choudhury
Release date(s) September 18, 1991 (France) Flag of France
January 17, 1992 (UK) Flag of the United Kingdom
February 5, 1992 (USA) Flag of the United States
Language English
Budget $8 million
Gross revenue $85 milion
IMDb profile

Mississippi Masala is a romance comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, it was released in the U.S. on February 5, 1992, previously being released in France on September 18, 1991 and in the United Kingdom on January 17, 1992. The film went to gross $85 million at the box office.

[edit] Story

A third-generation Indian-Ugandan family residing in Kampala, is expelled from the country in 1972 by the Idi Amin regime. The father, Jay (Roshan Seth) moves with wife, Kinnu (Sharmila Tagore) and daughter, Mina (Sarita Choudhury) to Greenwood, Mississippi. to live with family members who own a chain of motels there.

In 1990, 24-year-old Mina, who cleans at Anil's (Ranjit Chowdhry) family's motel (the Monte Christo), falls in love with Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a local African American carpet cleaner. The respective families erupt in turmoil after the pair are confronted by members of the Indian family during a weekend of pleasure in Biloxi.

Ultimately, the two families cannot come to terms with the inter-racial pair, who flee together in Demetrius' van. Both families need to move on, both emotionally and physically, in order to grow. Jay also needs to change. After a brief return to Kampala to attend a court proceeding on the disposition of his confiscated Ugandan house, Jay relinquishes his long-nurtured dream of returning to Uganda, the place he considered home.

The script was written in Brooklyn, NY after extensive research by Nair, Taraporevala, and their team, in Mississippi and Uganda. The Mississippi based scenes were filmed in Greenwood, Mississippi. The motel used in the filming of the motel scenes still stands next to the railroad crossing on US Highway 82 in Greenwood. The Mississippi bases scenes were filmed in Grenada, Mississippi at The Monte Cristo hotel, which was located on U.S. Hwy 51 in Grenada, Mississippi. A Renasant Bank stands on the location of the original hotel, which was demolished in the late nineties.

[edit] Cast and crew


v • d • e
Mira Nair
Directed films
Salaam Bombay!  (1988) • Mississippi Masala  (1991) • The Perez Family  (1995) • Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love  (1996) • My Own Country  (1998) • Monsoon Wedding  (2001) • Hysterical Blindness  (2002) • 11'9'01 September 11 (Section 'India')  (2002) • Vanity Fair  (2004) • The Namesake  (2007) • Shantaram • Amelia  (2009)
Documentaries
Jama Masjid Street Journal  (1979) • So Far from India  (1982) • India Cabaret  (1985) • Children of a Desired Sex  (1987) • The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat  (1993) • My Own Country  (1998) • The Laughing Club of India  (1999)
Productions
Still, the Children Are Here  (2004) • Blood Brothers  (2007) • Gangsta M.D.


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