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Mississippi Masala (1991)

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Drama, Desi.
Language : English, Spanish, Swahili.
Country : India, USA, UK.
Cast : Denzel Washington, Sairta Chaudhury, Roshan Seth, Sharmila Tagore, Charles S. Dutton.
Directed by : Mira Nair
Run Time : 118 min
Release Date : 5th February, 1992 (USA).

Synopsis :

“Mississippi Masala” is a lively and seductive tale of interracial romance between African-Americans and Indian-Americans in the United States. The director touches gently on the irony of this discrimination being practiced in an area synonymous with racial strife, and by a man who is subject to the same kind of exclusion by whites!

While the film focuses on a hot romance, it's also a fascinating study of a unique immigrant community with a richness of detail that borders on the ethnographic, as well as a telling examination of class and status anxiety. The smouldering, sensual attraction between the two leads has such an explosiveness that it's clear they were meant to be together!

Plot :

“Mississippi Masala” is a tale of how prejudice makes victims and instigators of us all. In 1972, Jay (Roshan Seth), a third-generation Ugandan Indian lawyer, is forced by the bigoted Idi Amin’s regime to take his family and flee the country. Jay is deeply hurt by the “Africa for Africans” sentiment growing among the black people of Uganda, particularly with the changed behaviour of his childhood friend Okelo (Konga Mbandu). He vows to hate and distrust all blacks - at least until he is able to reclaim the real estate stolen from him by the Ugandan government!

Jay moves with his wife, Kinnu (Sharmila Tagore) and daughter, Mina to Greenwood, Mississippi to live with other family members who own a chain of motels there. Now in 1990, Mina (Sarita Choudhury), a child with sketchy memories of Africa, has grown into a ripe beauty of 24, with an American accent that immediately suggests she does not share all of her family's ideas. She works at Anil’s family motel (the Monte Cristo) and helping her parents in earning their livelihood.

Accidently, Mina makes the acquaintance of Demetrius (Denzel Washington), a local African American carpet cleaner. At first attracted to Mina because he is fascinated by her African background, Demetrius slowly falls in love with her. This is not the sort of social life Mina's parents approve of; they expect their daughter to marry within their extended community of Indian exiles, and forbid her to see Demetrius.

The ban only serves to underline the isolated nature of the young woman's life, and there are ironies in the racism and colour consciousness she faces. Within her own community, she is considered too dark-skinned to make a desirable wife (her mother explains that ‘if you want to catch a husband, you can be dark and rich, or light and poor, but not dark and poor!’). Within the black community, the Indian woman is at first accepted with friendliness when Demetrius takes her to meet his family at a backyard party. But after all of the local Indian motel owners boycott Demetrius’ rug-cleaning company, the blacks get angry, too.

The respective families erupt in turmoil after the pair is confronted by members of the Indian family during a weekend picnic in Biloxi. The situation causes Jay to exercise the same racial prejudice by which he was himself victimized in Uganda. Ironically, Demetrius behaves just as foolishly, blaming Jay's ethnic chauvinism for a drop in his business. Ultimately, the two families cannot come to terms with the interracial pair, who flees together in Demetrius' van!

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!

Cast :

■ Demetrius Williams (Denzel Washington)

■ Mina (Sarita Chaudhury)

■ Young Mina (Sahira Nair)

■ Jay, Mina’s Father (Roshan Seth)

■ Kinnu, Mina’s Mother (Sharmila Tagore)

■ Okelo (Konga Mbandu)

■ Tyrone (Charles S. Dutton)

■ Williben (Joe Seneca)

■ Pontiac (Mohan Gokhale)

■ Jammu Bhai (Anjan Srivastava)

■ Anil (Ranjit Chowdhury)

■ Dexter (Tico Wells)


Awards :

1. It won the Critics Special Award at the 1991 São Paulo International Film Festival.
2. It won the Golden Osella Award for Best Story and Screenplay at the 1991 Venice International Film Festival.
3. It won the Best Actor Award at the 1994 NAACP Image Awards - Denzel Washington.
4. It was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the 1991 Venice International Film Festival.
5. It was nominated for the Best Picture Award at the 1993 Independent Spirit Awards.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 6.5/10;  AllMovie.com = 3.5/5; Amazon.com = 4.5/5; SunTimes.com = 3.5/5; RottenTomatoes.com = 6.7/10

[Source : Wikipedia, MirabaiFilms, IMDB, AllMovie, Amazon, Chicago Sun-Times, RottenTomatoes]

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Monsoon Wedding (2001)

Genre : Romance, Comedy, Family Drama, Musical, Desi.
Language : Hindi, Punjabi, English.
Country : India, USA.
Cast : Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shetty, Vijay Raaz, Vasundhra Das.
Directed by : Mira Nair
Music : Mychael Danna; Sukhwinder Singh (‘Kawa-Kawa’ Song).
Run Time : 114 min
Release Date : 30th August, 2001

Synopsis :

“Monsoon Wedding” is an exuberant family drama set in the Indian Punjabi culture, where ancient traditions and modern dot-com lifestyle combine to present a unique and perfect chemistry. As the romantic monsoon rains loom, the extended Verma family reunites from around the globe for a last-minute arranged marriage in New Delhi. ‘Monsoon Wedding’ traces five intersecting stories, navigating different aspects of love and crossing boundaries of class, continent and morality. It celebrates a contemporary India never before seen on screen!

The family's hopes, anxieties and long-guarded secrets emerge amid chaotic wedding preparations, and are juxtaposed with arresting montages of real-life Delhi. The relentless summer heat mirrors the story's building intensity as the city anticipates the cooling torrent of the monsoons. And when the rain comes, the cathartic downpour brings romance, revelation and liberation!

Plot :

‘Monsoon Wedding’ is a celebration of the sensual pleasures of cinema, of love at any age-anytime, and of the importance of family. It also pays affectionate tribute to a city where weighty tradition collides daily with global culture and the dot-com age, yielding an unusual and melodious harmony!

The plot of the film is set in the modern upper-middle class of India, where the modern and western lifestyles mix with the old family traditions. Lalit Verma (Naseeruddin Shah) is a concerned father, busy in organizing an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding for his daughter Aditi Verma (Vasundhara Das), for whom he has arranged a marriage with Hemant Rai (Parvin Dabas), a NRI engineer from Houston, Texas. All the relatives from both the families, some from distant places like Australia and America, are gathering at New Delhi during the monsoon season to attend the wedding.

The bride, Aditi Verma, is nervous as she has been having an affair with her married ex-boss Vikram (Sameer Arya). The film also includes several parallel subplots - Ria Verma (Shefali Shetty), the unmarried cousin of the bride, was sexually abused by her uncle, Lalit's brother-in-law and the family's patriarch, Tej Puri (Rajat Kapoor), some years earlier and she finally speaks out to prevent his abuse of her younger cousin, Aliyah. The wedding contractor P. K. Dubey (Vijay Raaz) falls in love with the family's maid, Alice (Tillotama Shome). The bride's brother, Varun, struggles with his father's disapproval of his longing to be a chef, and his angst at Varun's lack of conventional Indian masculine characteristics. Ayesha (Neha Dubey), the youngest marriageable relative of the bride, flirts with Aditi's cousin Rahul (Randeep Hooda), who has just returned from Melbourne. This is all set within the four days preceding the wedding, predominantly at the Vermas' house.

These four-day arrangements and celebrations will see clumsy organization, family parties and drama, dangers to the happy end of the wedding, lots of Bollywood music and even a parallel love story of the funny wedding planner, P. K. Dubey with the shy housemaid, Alice!

Reviews:

■ Nick Rogers of Suite101.com states that “Not content to merely direct traffic of intersecting characters, Mira Nair never lets the scurrying ensemble lag or their stories flag. ‘Monsoon Wedding’ is one of the most culturally savoury, joyously exotic comedies since ‘Strictly Ballroom’." (Sep 19, 2010)

■ Josh Ralske of All Movie Guide says, “It’s not just a touching, funny, multi-layered drama; it’s an exuberant love poem to a city and a culture in transition.” (Oct 30, 2002)

■ Kevin N. Laforest of Montreal Film Journal says, “By the last shots of the family members dancing and laughing, I was as happy as them!” (Sep 7, 2002)

Cast :

■ Aditi Verma, Bride (Vasundhara Das)

■ Lalit Verma, Bride’s Father (Naseeruddin Shah)

■ Pimmi Verma, Bride’s Mother (Lilette Dubey)

■ Ria Verma, Bride’s Elder Cousin (Shefali Shetty a.k.a. Shefali Shah)

■ P. K. Dubey, Wedding Contractor (Vijay Raaz)

■ Alice, Bride’s Maid (Tillotama Shome)

■ Varun Verma, Bride’s Brother (Ishan Nair)

■ Aliyah Verma, Bride’s Youngest Cousin (Kemaya Kidwai)

■ Ayesha Verma, Bride’s Young & Hot Cousin (Neha Dubey)

■ Hemant Rai, Groom (Parvin Dabas)

■ Mohan Rai, Groom’s Father (Roshan Seth)

■ C. L. Chaddha, Bride’s Maternal Uncle (Kulbhushan Kharbanda)

■ Tej Puri, Lalit’s Brother-in-law (Rajat Kapoor)

■ Rahul Chaddha, C. L. Chaddha’s Son (Randeep Hooda)

■ Vikram, Bride’s Ex-boss (Sameer Arya)

Awards :

1. It won the Golden Lion Award at the 2001 Venice International Film Festival.
2. It won the Lanterna Magica Award (C.G.S.) at the 2001 Venice International Film Festival.
3. It won the Producers Award at the 2005 Independent Spirit Awards - Caroline Baron.
4. It won the Best Foreign Film Award at the 2001 Canberra International Film Festival.
5. It was nominated for the 2001 Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
6. It was nominated for the 2001 BAFTA Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
7. It was nominated for the 2001 European Film Academy Awards for Screen International Award.
8. It was nominated for the 2001 Hollywood Foreign Press Association Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
9. It was nominated for the 2002 The British Independent Film Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
10. It was nominated for the 2002 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Foreign Film.
11. It was nominated for the 2003 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.2/10;  AllMovie.com = 4/5; Amazon.com = 4.3/5; All-Reviews.com = 2.5/4; RottenTomatoes.com = 7.9/10

[Source : Wikipedia, MirabaiFilms, IMDB, AllMovie, Amazon, All-Reviews, RottenTomatoes]

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