Sooni Taraporevala feels re-releasing Mississippi Masala in US is ‘important’

31 years after it first premiered in France, filmmaker Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala is all set to re-release in a remixed and remastered format in the USA on April 15. The movie starring Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury revolves round Indians being subjected to racism and xenophobia in Uganda.

Its screenplay author Sooni Taraporevala believes that the movie can have a robust affect on the brand new era of the Indian diaspora in the USA this time round as properly. “When the film first came out, I was in India and there were so many comments like, ‘We aren’t like that, we aren’t racists’ but it’s just not true. We like pointing fingers at others and call them racist, but deny it when it comes to us. It’s going to be very relevant for the next generation because sadly, not much has changed,” she says.

Sharing her pleasure in regards to the re-release of the movie, Taraporevala, who bagged the Golden Osella Best Original Screenplay for it on the Venice worldwide Film Festival in 1991, says, “In a climate where new films aren’t getting released theatrically, we find it absolutely amazing and thrilling that a film that’s 30-year-old is being re-released.”

The Salaam Bombay! (1988) and The Namesake (2006) author feels that it’s crucial to introduce the youthful NRI viewers to cult classics that provide them a glimpse into their tradition. She explains, “It’s always important to expose them to what came before, provided it’s relevant, especially in today’s times where attention spans are zero. Nobody reads and so, there’s no concept of history today.”

Taraporevala additional reveals that Mississippi Masala holds a particular place in Nair’s coronary heart as a result of private causes. “Mira met her husband, Mahmood Mamdani, when we went to Kampala to do our research. The house in the film is now her house. Her son was born there,” she ends.