Mississippi masala movie summary

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Movie Analysis: Mississippi Masala.
As the title indicates, “Mississippi Masala” is a story of the romance between two individuals of vast ethnic opposites. The setting of the film begins in 1972 when Mina and her family are forced to move from Uganda shortly after Dictator Idi Amin took power and exterminated all the Asians from Uganda. They move to a small town in Mississippi where Mina takes up a job at a motel while her mother works at a liquor store. Her father Jay, on the other hand, embarks on a long standoff with the Ugandan government to try and get back his estate and if possible get reinstated back into the country which he has always considered home. It’s while dispensing her daily duties at the motel that Mina meets Demetrius, an African American young carpet cleaner who works at the motel. And they immediately fall in love with each other despite the vast gulf between their ethnicities. And eventually Mina’s family finds out about her romantic escapades in Biloxi, and Jay who since being kicked out of Uganda, has harbored a hostile and vengeful demeanor towards the blacks for that, goes ballistic over the news. Eventually due to pressure, the two lovers decide to elope and find a place where their romance can grow without being hampered by the ethnic prejudices of their respective families.
The film does a fine mix of portraying and comparing the various activities of the two different ethnic cultures in consecutive scenes.

After showing an Indian wedding ceremony it transports the audience to a local club, contrasting the way entertainment varies. But the film doesn’t stereotype members of the minority races as most other films do, like depicting an Indian with a thick accent or an African American with just standing idly in the street and benefiting from food stamps. The producer only introduces and paints her characters as normal people with feelings, dreams, and abilities. But the romance promised by the title doesn’t get realized in the intensity that is suggested by the name “masala” an Indian term synonymous to spice. Demetrius and Mina don’t exactly have the spicy high-intensity romance, but they have a rather dull and perfunctory relationship.
A deeper look into the intent and objective of the film brings forth the fact that Nair didn’t achieve the goals of the film to their full extent. The film was supposed to be a dissection of the ethnic boundaries between Asian and African American members, and the relentless fight for true love despite the racial differences. The film doesn’t get into the thick of things in this ethnic debate; it barely scratches the crust of the matter and gives the audience, passive glimpses into the depth of the conflict. The families didn’t even get into a grave and pointed clash or conflict. The film is also expected to show the effects of the mismatched relationship on both sides of the divide, but it only shows a skewed side with a scene showing Demetrius speaking with Mina’s father. The dull approach to the conflict lowered the appeal of the film to the audience despite the brilliance of the actors.
The ending of the movie is also quite a disappointment. The conflict is resolved so fast one could easily miss it. The resolution also comes with relatively little trouble knowing the gravity of the underlying issues addressed by the movie. Jay finally gives up his cherished dream of going back to Uganda and decides to settle albeit reluctantly after attending court proceeding on the fate of his confiscated estate. Overall the film wasn’t given the necessary depth and swing on the story it tells despite an excellent performance by the actors. Nair needs only to deepen the narrative of the film to achieve a more profound impact. At the end of the day, it was a job well done.