6.6/10
4,176
33 user 11 critic

Mississippi Masala (1991)

An Indian family is expelled from Uganda when Idi Amin takes power. They move to Mississippi and time passes. The Indian daughter falls in love with a black man, and the respective families... See full summary »

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5 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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...
...
...
...
Tyrone Williams
...
Ranjit Chowdhry ...
Mohan Gokhale ...
Pontiac
...
Kanti Napkin
...
Yvette Hawkins ...
...
Jammubhai (as Anjan Srivastava)
Dipti Suthar ...
Chanda (Anil's wife)
Varsha Thaker ...
Kusumben
Ashok Lath ...
Harry Patel
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Storyline

An Indian family is expelled from Uganda when Idi Amin takes power. They move to Mississippi and time passes. The Indian daughter falls in love with a black man, and the respective families have to come to terms with it. Written by Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

Passion. Tradition. Mix It Up. See more »

Genres:

Drama | Romance

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sensuality and language | See all certifications »
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Details

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

5 February 1992 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Mississippi Masala  »

Filming Locations:

 »

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Box Office

Gross USA:

$7,310,000
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Demetrius' father, Williben, works as a server at a restaurant in their hometown of Greenwood, Mississippi. The location used to shoot the restaurant scenes was Lusco's, a real restaurant that has been a Greenwood institution since it was opened in 1933 by Italian immigrants. The restaurant's appearance is distinguished by its individual, curtained-off private dining booths, which are visible in the movie. As of 2006, the restaurant was still running. See more »

Goofs

Another error in the map shown during the transition is that Amsterdam is shown as capital of Belgium and Brussels as capital of The Netherlands. See more »

Quotes

Jammubhai: I'm ashamed of you! I am so ashamed of you!
Anil: [referring to Meena's family] Why do you always take their side? I worked hard for this motel and I am *not* running a charity!
Jammubhai: Anil, you have become American.
Anil: So what? I'm living in America! You don't like it? Then go back to India!
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Crazy Credits

The following appears at the end of the credits: Hakuna Matata "No Problem", in Kiswahili See more »

Connections

Referenced in Saved by the Bell: The New Class: A Perfect Lindsay (1994) See more »

Soundtracks

Caledonia's Party
Performed by Smiley Lewis
Written by David Bartholomew (as Dave Bartholomew)
Courtesy of EMI Unart Catalogue Inc.
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User Reviews

 
one of those movies that you don't usually expect
12 June 2005 | by See all my reviews

In the early 20th century, the English government moved several people from India to Uganda to build the railroad. Some of the Indians stayed and became lawyers, physicians, etc. When Idi Amin came to power in the early 1970s, he expelled all non-black Africans. Some of the Indians moved to Mississippi and began running motels.

"Mississippi Masala" focuses on this. Mina (Sarita Choudhury) is the daughter of an Indian family who fled Uganda for Mississippi. She develops a relationship with Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a local man. Her family does not approve of her dating a black man, and Demetrius' friends don't like him dating an Indian woman.

The movie shows many things, in particular how both the blacks and the Indians were displaced from their ancestral lands. Also, it shows how the blacks are racist towards the Indians and vice versa. As Demetrius reminds Mina's father: "Your skin is just a couple of shades from mine." Regardless of whether or not these sorts of things happen a lot, the movie does a very good job with it all.


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