Chutney Popcorn (1999)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Nisha Ganatra

Writers:

Susan Carnival (writer)
Nisha Ganatra (writer)

Release Date:

11 January 2001 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

A woman. Her girlfriend. A sister. Her husband. Their baby.

Plot:

Reena is a young Indian American lesbian who lives and works in New York. Her sister Sarita, who is happily married...

Plot Keywords:

Lesbian | Baby | Indian American | Surrogate Mother | Biphobia

Awards:

5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Nisha Ganatra	...	Reena
Jill Hennessy	...	Lisa
Sakina Jaffrey	...	Sarita
Madhur Jaffrey	...	Meenu
Nick Chinlund	...	Mitch
Cara Buono	...	Janis
Ajay Naidu	...	Raju
Daniella Rich	...	Tiffany
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Saylor Creswell	...	Doctor
Eliza Foss	...	Dr. Brendel
Greg Kachejian	...	Nurse
Priscilla Lopez	...	Loretta
Alisa Mast	...	Becca
Sunita Mukhi	...	Bhangra Auntie
Analisa Robertson	...	Deb's Girlfriend
Shazia	...	Henna Model
Amy Veltman	...	Jet

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

First Look International

Trivia:

Director and co-writer Nisha Ganatra stepped into the lead role of Reena after the actress originally cast in the role quit the production shortly before filming began.

Quotes:

Mitch: Sarita, the probabilty of you getting on a motorcycle is the same probability of Shiva having a penis.
Sarita: Shiva does have a penis. Shiva's a man.
Mitch: No he's not. Everyone knows all Hindu Gods are genderless.
Sarita (calling up her mother): Hi Mom. Shiva's a man, right?...And that would imply that He has a penis, right?...(To Mitch) Yes!

Movie Connections:

Features The Mischievous Ravi (1998)

Soundtrack:

Dupata Tera Satrang Da

Interesting concept; flawed execution

"Chutney Popcorn" takes on major issues-- lesbian identity, cultural identity, and intergenerational differences. However, I could never believe in the basic situation. This, in turn, prevented me from becoming involved with the characters and their plights.

The protagonist, Reena, played by Director Nisha Ganatra, is a henna artist in a beauty parlor. Her partner, Lisa--I missed her occupation--is played by Jill Hennessy.

Ms. Hennessy's great beauty unbalances the plot. We never understand why these two partners love each other, and what there is about Reena that makes Lisa stay with her through the ups and downs of the fairly predictable plot.

Several other lesbian women hover around the couple, but their place is the film was never clear to me.

Any couple has difficulties in their relationship. No doubt--even in New York City--same-gender couples have more difficulties, and culturally-diverse couples have still more problems.

I give the director credit for focussing on these problems. However, I don't think she really explored the problems in depth. Basically, she placed them before us on the screen, and then solved them for us.

This is a film that I wish had been better. I believe it is worth seeing, but not worth a special effort.