What We Learned About Zohran Mamdani by Watching Mississippi Masala
Unlike the New York Times, we didn’t have to collaborate with a racist hacker to put a spotlight on New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s identity. We just watched his mother’s 1991 indie film Mississippi Masala on HBO Max. Billed as a Romeo and Juliet story with the luminous leads of Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury, director Mira Nair deftly shows how colonial systems force people into identities that get labeled “complicated” for the sake of not discussing how horrible history can be.
We may already have voted for Mamdani in the primary, but this watch was also an excuse to pitch our ideas for New York City film initiatives and—since this is Cinema Dirtbag—discuss the pretty damn hot sex scene between Washington and Choudhury.
Brian J Davis: When he was still against Cuomo in the primary, there’s just no way you could throw “Nepo Baby” at Zohran. In comparison to Cuomo, whose dad was the king of New York, it was silly. But you take that away: yes, Zohran’s mother is an acclaimed indie filmmaker. But it’s not like he went to intern at A24. He became a Queens assemblyman! And now he wants the worst job in America: Mayor of New York City!
Emily Schultz: I hope he gets it!
BJD: His mother’s success does nothing for him in that regard. I hadn’t seen Mississippi Masala since probably the late ’90s. I watched it in film school. And I had this vague memory that it was this scrappy DIY film with a lot of heart and a really nuanced look at the complexities of post-colonial identities. That was borne out again on rewatch and I think those are also the qualities I want for my next mayor of New York!
ES: I remember seeing it obviously in video stores, but never watched it until now. I did watch Monsoon Wedding though.
BJD: Now to talk about Nair, and how the creation of Mississippi Masala relates to Zohran’s own story. In the 1980s, Nair was a documentary filmmaker who switched to narrative film. She moved to Uganda to research the story of the expulsion of Ugandan Indians. And that is where she met his father, academic and activist Mahmood Mamdani. And the father played by Roshan Seth is pretty much inspired by his story. Mahmood Mamdani criticized the Idi Amin regime in the 1970s, and was jailed and stripped of his citizenship by Amin. Which is literally what Trump threatened to do to Zohran. So it’s proven that his family can stand up to dictators.
ES: You’re saying he’s well-qualified.
BJD: Exactly. And I think we’re a week away from Trump starting to wear a general’s uniform.
ES: Going back to Zohran, I did learn from Wikipedia just now that he was once a rapper.
BJD: So if you knew that before voting for him…
ES: I think it’s a fun fact that he went from being Young Cardamom to Mr. Cardamom to the Zohran that we know and love today.
BJD: To know yourself is to be successful. And for him to say, maybe I’m not cut out for entertainment, to go from that, to Queens assemblyman, that says to me he chose a path of seriousness, right?
ES: It also does equip you: it says you can get up and perform in front of people and connect.
BJD: Okay, so my memories of this movie did live up to it. And what’s amazing, about halfway through watching it, you were like: I love this movie!
ES: I was, “I’m watching a chick flick with you! While I’m PMS!” And also it’s beautifully filmed, let me say, and very well acted.
BJD: Shot by Ed Lachman.
ES: Lachman came out of documentary as well. And there is kind of a documentary feel to this film.
BJD: There are a lot of characters. Like there’s a TV season’s worth of characters in this movie.
ES: I think the thing that’s interesting about the film is how it is many things. I mean, it’s a drama, it’s a rom-com, it’s historical. Which is very 1990s!
BJD: This struck me as a lot like a Jonathan Demme movie. Something Wild or Married to the Mob. What the hell is the genre? Who cares?
ES: And I will say that this movie did get me to cry. I do love that with the generational differences, we get to see it from both sides. The daughter’s saying, why do you care about these things, these old things? And the mother’s saying, well, aren’t you glad that you have someone to care about you? If we don’t care, who will?
BJD: That got to you?
ES: Oh, it got to me.
BJD: I like that the message of the movie is that there is life after a dictatorship. There’s life after these historical calamities that destroy people and scatter them. This movie really is about that: what colonialism does to histories. Let’s just quote the scene where Sarita is meeting Denzel’s family at a backyard BBQ. She chokes up at trying to explain herself as an Indian woman born in Africa and now in the American south working at a motel. And the brother character helps clarify. “You’re an Indian who’s never been to India. We’ve never been to Africa.” Again, the New York Times was blaming Zohran for having multiple identities—as if 600 years of colonialism was his fault! I know HBO Max is getting expensive but they could’ve just watched this movie.
ES: The kiss is coming up!
BJD: Sarita Choudhury just has the same gaze while looking at Denzel Washington for the entire movie.
ES: Oh, yeah. They have chemistry. He’s doesn’t seem too shy himself.
BJD: Oh, look what they’re doing with their hands! I know that technique.
ES: It’s a good kiss.
BJD: And technically, they’re filming it with Steadicam or handheld. It feels intimate and a little shaky. But it’s all going to fall apart now as they realize that they have transgressed their respective communities in small town Mississippi.
ES: We’re at the phone sex scene.
BJD: I wouldn’t say it’s phone sex. It’s phone sexy.
ES: They’re just working their way up. They’re still getting to know each other.
BJD: This is a proper 1990s relationship. Alright, I have to talk about the genius of Ed Lachman in this phone scene. It’s so easy to go over-the-top with gels. He’s the king of subtle gel work. Look at the soft pink/coral on her coming from the globe lamp. And the warm yellow on him. Okay, should we talk about what we want in terms of some film initiatives for New York City?
ES: I think let’s do 1980s-style sex scenes first. The characters sneak off for a coastal vacation in Biloxi. She lies to her family about who she’s going with.
BJD: And this is 1991. There’s a lot of the 1990s in this film, but still some 1980s.
ES: I was thinking about this. It’s no wonder that sex was very disappointing the first time given the expectations I may have had from 1980s sex scenes.
BJD: So what are some of the markers of 1980s sex scenes: hand stroking and the body as landscape. And it’s slower than sex could ever be! Like, ever.
ES: One day in my lifetime I should try to have ’80s sex. I think I would just start laughing though. And not critiquing the actors. They’re going for it.
BJD: Okay, 1980s sex scene jokes aside. Nair uses the end of the sex scene for a devastating flashback. And I think that is true to sex.
ES: List the film initiatives and I’ll respond if they’re ridiculous or not.
BJD: I know that the mayor has no power over the Hudson Valley, but how baller would it be if he worked with the governor to rename the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge to the John Cassavetes Bridge?
ES: Cassavetes. Born in New York. I love A Woman Under the Influence. Yes to that one!
BJD: City-owned studio spaces. The city is in control of so many of industrial spaces and seized buildings. Meanwhile, film studio space is disappearing into condos. Just three or four buildings would guarantee film production here for generations. And the leases would earn money.
ES: I mean, he’s talking about city-owned grocery stores. Why not!
BJD: He should force the Criterion Mobile Closet to stop in Greenpoint!
ES: I think that one’s unreasonable and biased completely to us.
BJD: Okay, it’s safe to say that overnight this has turned into one of your favorite movies?
ES: Yes, just like overnight Zohran has turned into one of my favorite politicians.