pc95 Review of Mississippi Masala

Mississippi Masala (1991)

Two Stories: One Strong, One Weak in Masala

[6/10 · 23 July 2010]

Mississippi Masala is a little bit difficult to rate. It's a bit dated now, but still has enough going for it that it is fairly good film. (spoilers) Between the 2 stories, the main love affair and secondary moving away from home and memories, I found the Uganda foundation story with memories to be quite good and absorbing, while the love interest poorly written and conceived. The movie does pretty well until it tries to conjure up conflict based on racial friction - this is where the dialog starts to break down. Dialog starts to include subjects like "you people" and other generalizations. The characters especially Demetrius and Mina lack what should be clarity to cut through the tension - and that's the problem. It's too contrived. I thought the acting was mostly good. You can tell it's Choudhury's first big movie or part. Roshan Seth commands all the scenes he's in. The ending was well done, and the secondary plot magnificently completed. It's enough to encourage watching the movie just for that part of it