And there is barely one white face on screen throughout the film to deflect attention or blame. It makes the inquiry more personal and about the human condition rather than a stereotypical presentation of either community as an “anthropological other”. The relationship between Mina and Demetrius, and the discord it provokes, is a useful lens through which to address these questions. “What was it like to be an African, but of Indian skin who believed India to be a spiritual home without ever having been there and to be living in Mississippi? And what if this world collided with that of a black American who believed Africa to be their spiritual home, but had also never been there? It must collide through love, because we must sell tickets!” In conversation with Bonnie Greer at the BFI in 2002, she explained the premise like this. The aim for Nair in this film was to explore the similarities and differences between the experiences of a black person and an Indian immigrant living in America and their attitude to one another. Otherwise, you’ll be mad forever and you’ll never eat."
The trick is that you got to know what to eat and what to leave on the plate. “Well, Miss Masala, racism – or as they now say tradition – is passed down like recipes. Demetrius, “Mississippi born and raised”, has a clearer sense of self and helps her along with nuggets like this. There is an instant attraction and despite sensing that Demetrius is using her to make an old flame jealous, and knowing that their parents will not approve, Mina makes her intentions clear.Īs they spend more time together, Mina gains a clearer perspective on how her identity as an East African Indian living in America relates to her heritage. After a minor car accident, she meets hardworking carpet cleaner Demetrius (Washington). We see that Mina is dutiful yet rebellious, hungry for independence and eager to take a different path to her parents. There is an expectation that someone like Mina will marry from within, but only if she is successful in her career as her darker skin is undesirable according to mother Kinnu (Sharmila Tagore).
The family is hardworking, serves its customers without fuss and largely keeps to its own – the South Asian community that has congregated in Greenwood. ( National Geographic reported in 2018 that more than half the motels in the US are owned by Indian Americans.) The father, played by Roshan Seth, is particularly bitter about this uprooting, a successful lawyer who considered himself East African first and Indian second. Director Mira Nair says this was common for Indian families at the time.
Mina, in particular, is a product of her itinerant early life.
Hence the word “masala”, which is a mixed space. After some time spent in the UK, the family moves to a town called Greenwood in the Deep South. Mina (Choudhury) is the sheltered daughter of parents expelled from Kampala, Uganda, by Idi Amin (just like my mother).
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