Chutney Popcorn

Chutney Popcorn
Chutney Popcorn
	DVD cover
Directed by	Nisha Ganatra
Written by	Susan Carnival; Nisha Ganatra
Produced by	Susan Carnival; Nisha Ganatra
Starring	Nisha Ganatra; Jill Hennessy; Sakina Jaffrey; Madhur Jaffrey
Cinematography	Erin King
Edited by	Jane Pia Abramowitz
Music by	Karsh Kale
Release dates	July 9, 1999 (Outfest); September 22, 2000 (U.S.);
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Chutney Popcorn is a 1999 comedy-drama film starring, directed and co-written by Nisha Ganatra.^[1] Ganatra plays a young lesbian Indian American woman called Reena. Jill Hennessy plays her girlfriend Lisa, and Reena's mother and sister are played by real life mother and daughter Madhur Jaffrey and Sakina Jaffrey.^[2] The film explores the conflict between Reena's sexual and national identities as well as her mother Meenu's attempts to come to terms with the Western lives of both her daughters.^[3]

Plot

Reena is a young Indian American lesbian who lives and works in New York City. Her sister Sarita, who is happily married, discovers that she is infertile. Reena offers to be a surrogate mother for her sister's baby, hoping to improve her relationship with their mother, who disapproves of Reena's sexual orientation. Sarita and her husband accept Reena's offer, but Sarita begins to have second thoughts. After Reena becomes pregnant, her relationship with her girlfriend Lisa suffers. When the baby is born, Reena and Lisa are reunited, as are Reena's family.^[4]

Cast

Nisha Ganatra as Reena
Jill Hennessy as Lisa
Sakina Jaffrey as Sarita
Madhur Jaffrey as Meenu
Nick Chinlund as Mitch
Cara Buono as Janis
Ajay Naidu as Raju
Daniella Rich as Tiffany

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 19 reviews.^[5] On Metacritic the film has a score of 66 out of 100 based on reviews from 8 critics.^[6]

Awards

Chutney Popcorn won several film festival awards between 1999 and 2001 including at the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, the Paris Lesbian Film Festival and L.A. Outfest.^[7] It was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie in 2001.

References

^ Ember, Carol R. (2004). Encyclopedia of diasporas. Springer. p. 381. ISBN 0-306-48321-1.
^ Winter, Jessica (March 2000). "Raging Against The Raj". Interview. Retrieved 2009-06-13. ^{[dead link]}
^ Singh, Jaspal Kaur (2009). Representation and Resistance. University of Calgary Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-55238-245-5.
^ Welsch, Janice R.; J. Q. Adams (2005). Multicultural films. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 44. ISBN 0-313-31975-8.
^ "Chutney Popcorn". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
^ "Chutney Popcorn". Metacritic.
^ Caswell, Michelle. "Chutney Popcorn: An Interview with Nisha Ganatra". AsiaSource. Archived from the original on 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2009-06-13.

External links

[1] Ember, Carol R. (2004). Encyclopedia of diasporas. Springer. p. 381. ISBN 0-306-48321-1.

[2] Winter, Jessica (March 2000). "Raging Against The Raj". Interview. Retrieved 2009-06-13. ^{[dead link]}

[3] Singh, Jaspal Kaur (2009). Representation and Resistance. University of Calgary Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-55238-245-5.

[4] Welsch, Janice R.; J. Q. Adams (2005). Multicultural films. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 44. ISBN 0-313-31975-8.

[5] "Chutney Popcorn". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 21, 2014.

[metacritic-6] "Chutney Popcorn". Metacritic.

[7] Caswell, Michelle. "Chutney Popcorn: An Interview with Nisha Ganatra". AsiaSource. Archived from the original on 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2009-06-13.

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v t e Films by Nisha Ganatra
Directed	Chutney Popcorn (1999) Cosmopolitan (2003) Cake (2005) The Hunters (2013) Late Night (2019) The High Note (2020)
Written	The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008) Center Stage: On Pointe (2016)