Synopsis
Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda, twentysomething Mina finds herself helping to run a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. It's there that a passionate romance with the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African American communities.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Denzel WashingtonDemetrius Williams
- Sarita ChoudhuryMina
- Roshan SethJay
- Sharmila TagoreKinnu
- Charles S. DuttonTyrone Williams
- Joe SenecaWilliben Williams
- Ranjit ChowdhryAnil
- Mohan GokhalePontiac
- Mohan AgasheKanti Napkin
- Tico WellsDexter Williams
Recommendations
- 89
Austin Chronicle
It takes love to bring all these elements together into harmony, and Nair makes it look easy even when it's most difficult for her characters. - 88
New York Daily News
The movie is both wonderfully tender and wryly funny. [05 Feb 1992, p.31] - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
All of these serious questions linger just under the surface of Mississippi Masala, which is, despite its subject, surprisingly funny and cheerful at times, and generates a full-blown romanticism. - 80
Empire
Nair has made a truthful film about race which avoids hatred. It leaves a joyously hopeful taste. - 75
Boston Globe
In its sweet, slightly melancholy, gently humorous way, it fills the screen with the freshest, most winning love story we've seen in ages. [14 Feb 1992, p.39] - 75
Chicago Tribune
The movie assumes its multiculturalism with grace and humor, moving between its various worlds with a delighted eye for distinguishing features and a rich sense of character. [14 Feb 1992, p.B7] - 75
Miami Herald
Mississippi is full of good will, but it's not preachy, and its story of romance in an ethnic broth is fascinating when it's working right. [14 Feb 1992, p.5G] - 70
Los Angeles Times
Despite the awkwardness of much of the staging, and the unevenness of the script, the movie does give you a sense of real people living real lives. [14 Feb 1992, p.B9]
