Mississippi Masala

R

Released Feb 5, 1992

1 hr. 58 min.

Comedy

Drama

List

92%

75 Reviews

Tomatometer

64%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

The vibrant cultures of India, Uganda, and the American South are blended and simmered into a rich and fragrant fusion feast in Mira Nair's luminous look at the complexities of love in the modern melting pot. Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda by the dictatorship of Idi Amin, twentysomething Mina (Sarita Choudhury) 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 (Denzel Washington) challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African American communities. Tackling thorny issues of racism, colorism, culture clash, and displacement with big-hearted humor and keen insight, Nair serves up a sweet, sexy, and radical celebration of love's power to break down the barriers between us.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Jan 16

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Mississippi Masala on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Consensus

Sarita Choudhury and Denzel Washington's romantic chemistry lights up the screen in Mississippi Masala, Mira Nair's observant and sexy tale of cultures clashing.

Read Critics Reviews

Steve D

Powerful but uncomfortable tale that shows signs of Washington becoming one of the best of all time.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

jon c

Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury play an interracial couple testing the boundaries directed by Mira Nair The movie starts off in 1972 with Roshan Seth as a father, Jay in Africa but because of a political barrier he's no longer welcome The majority of Africans believe only blacks should stay So he and his family decide to pack up and leave Uganda for the United States Jays daughter is Meena, Washington plays Demetrius who meets Meena as an adult in Mississippi 1990 and they develop an mutual attraction for each other Of course being that he's black and she's Indian there's mixed feelings about the whole thing from both sides Both of them face enormous pressure like blacklisting so they decide to pursue each other free of constraints This is a love story wrapped in histories of postcolonial displacement, settler colonialism, and the shadows of Jim Crow, it offers an account of the cruel circuitous routes of displacement and migration to the American South The film asks us to be attentive not only to this story of love but also to the policing of women's sexuality, the competing status of "colored nations" (as W. E. B. Du Bois put it) under British and American colonialisms, and the alliances formed and broken at the nexus of race and capital in the US It also succeeds examining race, migration and loss of belonging Its politics are still so timely and very brave to hear the things we were outrageous enough to say then The movie holds a mirror to the bigotry the Indian community displays while itself having been a victim of racism by white Americans, it's not just Demetrius that faces mistreatment every day but even Meena is called out for her skin color by other Indians It's true that cruelty has no color, if we don't tell our stories no one else will, racism is passed down like recipes, you'll be mad forever if you don't know how to do it, people always look at others like on a bus expecting them to fall off, the world is not so quick to change, home is where the heart is Washington and Choudhry are the best part of the movie with their undeniable chemistry and sharing of views of how the world sees them Meena's father gets some good development too given he doesn't want to die in a strangers country, he always wanted to change the world but it didn't give him a chance early enough A part of him will always be India but also African, and given his daughter is in love with a black man he has to learn to accept the changes An innocent and wise viewing that looks at ethnic romance It successfully dissects the very real, racist dynamics between minority groups often pitted against each other in a way that's not condescending I'm happy the ending was satisfactory on a deep level too

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

michael a

Really solid movie. Attempts to place blame on everyone, not just the usual suspects, and a tender love story in the middle. Nicely done.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The best romance movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Perhaps Mr. Washington underperformed here. It certainly feels slightly empty, this film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Good movie! Well, anything with Denzel in it is good!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Mira Nair

Director

Denzel Washington

Demetrius Williams

Sarita Choudhury

Meena

Roshan Seth

Jay

Sharmila Tagore

Kinnu

Charles S. Dutton

Tyrone Williams

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

95%

93%

Hundreds of Beavers

TRAILER

for Hundreds of Beavers

67%

29%

The Stranger

TRAILER

for The Stranger

50%

92%

The Stolen Valley

TRAILER

for The Stolen Valley

93%

95%

Dune: Part Two

TRAILER

for Dune: Part Two

71%

60%

Immaculate

TRAILER

for Immaculate

82%

75%

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

TRAILER

for In the Land of Saints and Sinners

69%

86%

Sweet Dreams

TRAILER

for Sweet Dreams

56%

84%

DogMan

TRAILER

for DogMan

%

40%

Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer

%

%

An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th

TRAILER

for An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

10 Asian Women Filmmakers Who Paved the Way for Other Asian Film Talent

View more photos

Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

Mira Nair’s sophomore feature, Mississippi Masala, lives at the intersection of disparate cultures.

May 19, 2022

Full Review

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Mississippi Masala appears to have been produced on a modest (by Hollywood standards) budget, but it is a big movie in terms of talent, geography and concerns.

Apr 15, 2022

Full Review

Ella Taylor

L.A. Weekly

The script, though it clips along with a wicked capering wit, is forever explaining itself; the comedy is a broad grin filled with sitcom retreads... Delivered with enormous good humor and affection, all of this works.

Apr 15, 2022

Full Review

Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

It’s a nuanced tale of interracial love that tackles colorism, how prejudice functions within a local economy, and the generational pain of cultural displacement.

Feb 29, 2024

Full Review

Ernece B. Kelly

The Crisis

Denzel Washington is the dramatic and romantic center.

Dec 26, 2023

Full Review

Sean Burns

WBUR’s Arts & Culture

The movie’s not just hot, it’s humid.

Jul 22, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

The vibrant cultures of India, Uganda, and the American South are blended and simmered into a rich and fragrant fusion feast in Mira Nair's luminous look at the complexities of love in the modern melting pot. Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda by the dictatorship of Idi Amin, twentysomething Mina (Sarita Choudhury) 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 (Denzel Washington) challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African American communities. Tackling thorny issues of racism, colorism, culture clash, and displacement with big-hearted humor and keen insight, Nair serves up a sweet, sexy, and radical celebration of love's power to break down the barriers between us.

Director: Mira Nair
Distributor: The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 5, 1992, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Apr 15, 2022
Release Date (DVD): May 27, 2003
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.3M
Sound Mix: Stereo, Surround

Most Popular at Home Now