Chutney Popcorn: Movie Review, DVD Review (2000)

Directed by Nisha Ganatra, written by Susan Carnival and Ganatra, 92 minutes, not rated.

(Originally published 2000)

The title of 26-year-old Nisha Ganatra’s first feature film, “Chutney Popcorn,” is something of a problem. It makes her movie sound clumsy and juvenile, when in fact it’s a rich, often funny dramedy about an Indian-American lesbian who comes to find her place in the world with the help of her sister, her sister’s husband, her mother, her partner--and, of all things, a turkey baster.

The film stars Ganatra as Reena, a sweet, cherub-faced photographer and henna-tattoo artist who lives in Greenwich Village with her girlfriend, Lisa (Jill Hennessy of “Law and Order”).

When Reena’s older, recently married sister, Sarita (Sakina Jaffrey), learns she isn’t able to conceive a child, Reena, always the underdog in her family because of her lesbianism, realizes this is her moment to shine.

Finally, she can do something her “perfect” sister can't while, at the same time, proving to her difficult yet well-meaning mother, Meenu (Madhur Jaffrey, Sakina’s real-life mother), that just because she happens to love women, doesn’t mean she isn’t a woman herself.

Thus begins Reena’s quest to get pregnant by Sarita’s husband, Mitch (Nick Chinlund). At first, Sarita is reluctantly for it, as is Lisa, who proves deft at handling the turkey baster and the small pots of Mitch’s handiwork. But those feelings eventually change as Reena’s belly grows, forcing each woman to face each other--and themselves.

“Chutney Popcorn” may seem predictable on the surface, but it isn’t; Ganatra and her co-screenwriter, Susan Carnival, ignite their story midway through with an unexpected twist. Exactly what that twist is won’t be revealed here, but it’s a smart touch, one that nicely complicates the proceedings and deepens the repercussions of Reena’s decision to have this child.

If Ganatra decides to go for a happy ending that neatly resolves all that came before, she can be forgiven. Her film, backed by a miniscule budget, is extremely well-acted and well-directed, a truly unique movie that brings together its different themes and cultures in an honest attempt to explore them all with a measure of good humor.

Grade: B+