Austin Chronicle by Kathleen Maher

It takes love to bring all these elements together into harmony, and Nair makes it look easy even when it's most difficult for her characters.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

All of these serious questions linger just under the surface of Mississippi Masala, which is, despite its subject, surprisingly funny and cheerful at times, and generates a full-blown romanticism.

New York Daily News by Kathleen Carroll

The movie is both wonderfully tender and wryly funny. [05 Feb 1992, p.31]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Joe Pollack

Most important, Taraporevala and Nair have created a seamless story that entertains, informs -- and maybe even teaches. [28 Feb 1992, p.75]

The Seattle Times by John Hartl

The interracial love affair in Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala doesn't burn up the screen the way it did in Spike Lee's overheated "Jungle Fever." But the movie itself is ultimately more satisfying, generating much more light than sizzle. [14 Feb 1992, p.23]

Philadelphia Inquirer by Carrie Rickey

An exotic and erotic love story about an interracial couple whose cultures have more in common than they ever imagined. [12 Feb 1992, p.D]

Baltimore Sun by Stephen Hunter

No American film this year can touch it. [28 Feb 1992, p.10]

Seattle Post-Intelligencer by William Arnold

An immensely enjoyable cross-cultural parable full of appealing characters and well-crafted performances. [14 Feb 1992]

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

As long as Nair follows the two characters’ romantic moves or details the lives of their families (whose contrasting status on the ethnic-minority ladder marks them as both rivals and uneasy comrades), the movie is funny, observant, and deeply humane.

The A.V. Club by Caroline Siede

A wholly original story written and directed by women that thoughtfully explores the complexities of interracial love between people of color.

Empire

Nair has made a truthful film about race which avoids hatred. It leaves a joyously hopeful taste.

Miami Herald by Bill Cosford

Mississippi is full of good will, but it's not preachy, and its story of romance in an ethnic broth is fascinating when it's working right. [14 Feb 1992, p.5G]

Chicago Tribune by Dave Kehr

The movie assumes its multiculturalism with grace and humor, moving between its various worlds with a delighted eye for distinguishing features and a rich sense of character. [14 Feb 1992, p.B7]

Boston Globe by Jay Carr

In its sweet, slightly melancholy, gently humorous way, it fills the screen with the freshest, most winning love story we've seen in ages. [14 Feb 1992, p.39]

Variety

Washington is savvy and attractive as the enterprising carpet cleaner destined for a brighter future. Choudhury is a discovery as the Americanized Mina, who calls herself a kind of masala (mixed spices). Together, they carry the film smoothly and agreeably.

Los Angeles Times by Peter Rainer

Despite the awkwardness of much of the staging, and the unevenness of the script, the movie does give you a sense of real people living real lives. [14 Feb 1992, p.B9]

Time Out

An interesting if poorly constructed and self-contradicting drama, directed with something less than assurance, but given some appeal by the honesty of its performances.