Chutney Popcorn

Chutney Popcorn
DVD cover
Directed by	Nisha Ganatra
Produced by	Susan Carnival Nisha Ganatra
Written by	Susan Carnival Nisha Ganatra
Starring	Nisha Ganatra Jill Hennessy Sakina Jaffrey Madhur Jaffrey
Music by	Karsh Kale
Cinematography	Erin King
Editing by	Jane Pia Abramowitz
Release date(s)	July 9, 1999 (Outfest) September 22, 2000 (United States) January 15, 2001 (United Kingdom)
Running time	92 min
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. 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

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.^[5] It was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie in 2001.

References

1. ^ Ember, Carol R. (2004). Encyclopedia of diasporas. Springer. pp. 381. ISBN 0306483211. http://books.google.com/?id=7QEjPVyd9YMC. 
2. ^ Winter, Jessica (March 2000). "Raging Against The Raj". Interview. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_3_30/ai_60025393/. Retrieved 2009-06-13. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Singh, Jaspal Kaur (2009). Representation and Resistance. University of Calgary Press. pp. 165. ISBN 1552382451. http://books.google.com/?id=odVPC6wptOQC. 
4. ^ Welsch, Janice R.; J. Q. Adams (2005). Multicultural films. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 44. ISBN 0313319758. http://books.google.com/?id=gVbRZdvw9ZUC. 
5. ^ Caswell, Michelle. "Chutney Popcorn: An Interview with Nisha Ganatra". AsiaSource. http://www.asiasource.org/arts/Nisha.cfm. Retrieved 2009-06-13. 

External links

• Official site
• Chutney Popcorn at the Internet Movie Database
• Chutney Popcorn at AllRovi