Mississippi Masala(1992)

Storyline

• An Indian family is expelled from Uganda when Idi Amin takes power. They move to Mississippi and time passes. The now-adult Indian daughter meets and falls in love with a Black man, and the respective families are forced to come to terms with it in the climate of racial hatred. — Ed Sutton During British rule in India, many Indians were sent to Uganda to assist in the building of a railroad. When the railroad was complete, most of the Indians decided to make Uganda their new home. Soon they became rich property owners and enjoyed a far better standard of living than native Ugandans. Some conservative parents of second generation Ugandan-Indians refused to permit their children to marry native Ugandans. Using this as a pretext, in November of 1972 General Idi Amin made it mandatory for all Asians to leave Uganda, as he wanted Africa to be a "Black Africa". In the movie one of the displaced families was Jay, Kinnu, and their young daughter Mina, moving from Kampala to Greenwood, Mississippi, U.S.A. The family attempted to establish themselves in their new surroundings while reacquainting themselves with their relatives, Anil, Jammubhai, Kusum, Chanda, Kanti, and Pontiac. From 1972 to 1990, Jay and Kinnu ran a liquor shop, while Meena cleaned motel rooms and bathrooms. Since Meena had a dark complexion, she was often mistaken for a Mexican, and Kinnu was unable to find a suitable groom for her. Jay still keeps the hope that one day he will regain his estate in Kampala and return to live there for the rest of his life, and continues to nurse a grudge against the Black Africans who had displaced him and taken over his property. Now to make matters worse, Jay gets a rude shock when Anil tells him that Mina is having an affair with a "kaalu" (Black man) named Demetrius Williams, who runs a business cleaning carpets in motel rooms. Watch how tensions rise when salt is rubbed on old wounds, and racism, called "tradition" by some folks in the U.S., raises its ugly head, perhaps to claim more victims--this time Meena and Demetrius--who may not be able to handle the chain of events started by their love for each other. — rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)