Mississippi Masala

Arguably one of the sexiest movies of the ‘90s, Mira Nair’s interracial star-crossed love story is hot in every sense: swampy Southern nights and motel-room dalliances, but also explosive political violence and family tension ready to boil over at any moment. Forced to flee Uganda under dictator Idi Amin and resettle in the US, Mina’s life is turned upside down once again when she begins a passionate—and taboo—love affair with Demetrius, a Black man who shares her dream of a bigger life beyond Greenwood, Mississippi. The languorous atmosphere that hangs over the film is not just about desire, but yearning of another kind: an exile’s need for belonging. Nair’s keen awareness of both the minutiae of relationships and their much broader socio-political context gives the film a depth as key to its enduring popularity as witnessing a shorts-clad Denzel Washington at his face-melting peak.