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Arriving
late to her sister Sarita's (Sakina Jaffrey) wedding ceremony,
Reena is greeted by her mother, Meena (Maddhur Jaffrey, Sakina’s
real-life mother) with disapproving eyes, both because of
her tardiness and because she brought Lisa. The symbolism
of the music, scenery and reaction of each character in the
first few scenes lays the groundwork for the conflicts and
unspoken anguish between the characters that drives the plot
throughout the movie.
The
cultural and generational clash between Reena and her mother
is fairly formulaic: a traditional mother raised in a male-dominated
culture wants her daughter to marry a man and have children.
The Americanized daughter cannot live out her mother’s
wishes because (1) she is a lesbian and (2) she cannot completely
relate to her Indian heritage. This is complicated by the
fact that Meena herself doesn't completely adhere to tradition.
She raised Reena and Sarita as a single parent, allows Reena’s
older sister to marry a white man, and tells Reena that a
dominant male figure is not necessary in a woman’s life
to achieve stability and happiness.
Interestingly,
although the two primary relationships are interracial--Sarita
with her white husband Mitch (Nick Chinlund) and Reena with
her white girlfriend, Lisa--the issue of race is barely addressed
in the film. The only time it comes up in the film is in an
argument between Sarita and Mitch regarding the gender of
an Indian God, during which Sarita comments: “I don’t
need my lesbian sister to tell me how to be a woman and I
don’t need you [Mitch] to tell me how to be Indian.”
The lack of exploration of race issues can be perceived as
both progressive, for the depiction of an interracial relationship
on-screen without race being the forefront issue, or false,
for ignoring the issue or pretending it's not one at all.
Relationship
conflict is at the heart of this movie. Lisa is portrayed
as a girl who has issues with commitment, as indicated by
her inability to unpack her boxes after moving in with Reena,
and her issues with the permanency of tattoos. Reena displays
no commitment issues with Lisa, but her resistance to responsibility
implies that she does in some ways have her own commitment
issues.
The
storyline unfolds with Reena learning to be responsible by
unexpectedly offering to be a surrogate mother for her sister,
who is physically unable to have a baby. Lisa initially runs
from Reena as the baby, and its implication of permanence,
is introduced into their relationship, but comes around in
the end. Chutney
Popcorn's two lesbian mommies theme is a bit tired today
in light of the mass proliferation of that image on television
in the last few years, but it was still somewhat novel in
1999.
The
more interesting storyline is Sarita’s, as she struggles
with crushed ideals, personal hypocrisy and sense of helplessness
due to her inability to have children. Her sister's offer
to carry her child challenges Sarita's assumptions about lesbians,
and her opinion of her sister. Sarita's evolution as she comes
to terms with these changes, and the crumbling of many of
her preconceived ideas, holds this script together and rewards
the audience with positive closure and hope.
Overall,
the lesbian relationship is not three-dimensional enough,
but the film does deliver a "happy ending" for a
lesbian relationship--the kind of ending often lacking in
films with lesbian characters. Although
full of campy jokes and stereotypes, with occasionally choppy
acting and low-budget film quality, Chutney Popcorn
is an entertaining, introspective, feel-good lesbian flick,
and a solid first film for Nisha Ganatra.
Get
Chutney Popcorn on DVD
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