The best Mira Nair film is undeniably "Salaam Bombay!," her heartbreaking first feature about street children eking out a sad existence in Bombay. It's what put her in the spotlight, as one of the first female Indian directors to enjoy international acclaim, leading to a long and eclectic career. However, "Salaam Bombay!" doesn't have much of what I've come to enjoy most about Mira Nair films - moving immigrant narratives, sensual romance, and lush visuals. Also, it doesn't have a young Denzel Washington setting the screen ablaze.
It takes a while for Washington to show up in "Mississippi Masala," Nair's second film, which opens with the expulsion of South Asians from Uganda in 1972. Jay and Kinnu (Roshan Seth and Sharmila Tagore) and their young daughter Mina are among the refugees, who eventually end up in rural Mississippi many years later, running a motel. The South Asian community is small, but well established, and Mina (Sarita Choudhury), now in her twenties, has adjusted to life in the U.S. While her father continues to petition the Ugandan government to reclaim his seized property, Mina falls in love with an African-American man named Demetrius (Washington), who owns a carpet cleaning business.
The Ugandan exiles are a fascinating group - ethnic Indians who often had no ties to India, were forcibly displaced by Idi Amin's regime, and ended up scattered around the globe. The community in Mississippi coexists uneasily alongside their mostly African-American neighbors, scraping by in typical immigrant fashion. As committed as the film is to exploring both groups of residents, and putting an interracial relationship front and center, it doesn't hide the difficulties that come with it. Mina and Demetrius immediately meet with hostility when their relationship is discovered, especially from Mina's parents. Staying with each other means having to cut ties and leave, another expulsion driven by complicated motivations.
Hollywood doesn't make enough romantic films anymore, and even fewer that are interested in being really sexy. "Mississippi Masala" benefits from Choudhury and Washington's onscreen chemistry, but even more from Mira Nair's understanding of what to do with it. 90% of their courtship involves no dialogue, just watching the two of them physically and emotionally connect. There are several points, including the end credits sequence, where Nair just lets her incredibly photogenic actors exist in the frame together, reacting to each other and enjoying each other's physical presence. I was caught off guard by the sex scene, because it had been so long since I'd seen a halfway decent one in a major film. It's not even a particularly erotic or explicit scene, but it stands out because it gets across how much both participants enjoy the act.
Nair shot the film exactly where it takes place, both in Uganda and in Greenwood, Mississippi. This lends a realism and authenticity to the film that is rare, and extremely effective. The immersiveness is instantaneous in each locale, which is vital since the editing sometimes cuts quickly from one to the other, usually for flashbacks and memories. The juxtaposition of Jay's narrative, which sees him grappling with the effects of an injustice that played out on such a historic scale, with Mina and Demetrious's much smaller, intimate romance, works very well. It helps to give context to the behaviors and the biases we see in play without being too obvious or explicit, heightens the generational and social divides, and brings the parallels into sharper focus.
Going through Mira Nair's filmography this year was one of the best film experiences I've had in a while. She has such a strong body of work, and has such a distinct visual style and point of view. I especially admire her willingness to tackle different cultural experiences, spending a considerable amount of time with Demetrious's family and friends in "Mississippi Masala," even as we see the story unfold mostly from Mina's point of view. Many of Nair's films are ultimately celebrations of family and love and culture, some very personal and specific, but all wonderfully universal onscreen.
What I've Seen - Mira Nair
Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Mississippi Masala (1991)
The Perez Family (1995)
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996)
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Hysterical Blindness (2002)
Vanity Fair (2004)
The Namesake (2006)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
Queen of Katwe (2016)
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