This is an attractive romantic drama with dashes of comedy on a familiar theme - racial prejudice - with a slightly different twist, directed by Mira Nair. Jay (Roshan Seth), a prosperous Asian lawyer, is forced to leave Idi Amin's Uganda with his wife Kinnu (Sharmila Tagore) and small daughter. In 1990, nearly 20 years later, in Mississippi, the family runs a liquor store and young Mina (Sarita Choudhury) has become thoroughly American. She also falls in love with a carpet cleaning operative, Demetrius (Denzel Washington). Not only is he black, but he comes from a distinctly humble background. The story is nicely told, with attractive performances from Choudhury and Washington as the illicit lovers, but examination of the real issues involved here remains rather superficial. More convincing is the depiction of Jay's loss of status in his adopted country and his inability, superbly conveyed by Seth, to let go of his old homeland. The camera captures his dilemma neatly, with witty juxtapositions of Jay's beautiful property in old Uganda and the unattractive clutter of the average American small town.


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