Zohran Mamdani: Mayor, millennial, ‘Mississippi Masala’ born

Zohran Mamdani, New York’s newly elected mayor, has emerged as an unlikely hero among the global zeitgeist.

Understandably so — the socialist democrat politician often feels like a breath of fresh air among the regressing ideals represented in global state affairs today. Mamdani defeated his Independent opponent, Andrew Cuomo, and the Republican nominee, Curtis Silwa, to seal his victory in the mayoral elections of New York on November 4.

While the millennial mayor-elect obviously has an edge when it comes to recognising what’s hip among the current youth, as he previously won over a large chunk of his voter base through a trendy social media campaign, Mamdani’s astute touch of what works visually is perhaps a product of his partial links to the medium of film.

Mamdani’s birth

Born Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the son of eminent filmmaker Mira Nair was likely always destined to inherit not only a considerable amount of talent, but also, a culturally refined outlook. Nair shares Mamdani with her husband of more than 30 years, noted academic and political commentator, Mahmood Mamdani.

Besides being born to a film director, it is the origin tale of Mamdani’s birth echoing his promise to New York today that makes for a true cinematic deal.

Mississippi Masala (1991)

When Mira Nair was researching for her interracial romance Mississippi Masala in Uganda, amid the breakdown of her marriage to the film’s co-producer Mitch Epstein, the Indian-born filmmaker met her future spouse and the would-be father of Zohran Mamdani.

The film, which starred Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhry, perfectly encapsulated its title — focused on the blend between the cultures of different marginalised communities in the Western world, Mississippi Masala told the story of an Indian family who is forced to flee Uganda during Idi Amin’s dictatorship, moves to and settles in the US, further continuing the cycle of racial aggression when their daughter falls in love with an African-American owner of a carpet cleaning business.

Nair’s film had all the makings of one which could have ended on a bleak note — instead, the director steered it into a direction which promoted communal harmony by its conclusion, as the family’s patriarch is finally able to pay a visit to the African country he once considered his home, while his daughter chooses love and receives her family’s support in return – albeit not easily.

Mamdani’s movement

Born the same year as Mississippi Masala’s release, Zohran Mamdani’s manifesto reiterates the film’s core in more ways than one.

Mamdani has regularly sought the support of and championed various racial and ethnic backgrounds in New York, going so far as to share his campaign’s promotional material in different languages.

The immigrant cause has been a cornerstone of the mayor-elect’s efforts amid a tidal wave of anti-immigration laws and sensibility sweeping American — and largely, global — politics.

During his victory speech in Brooklyn, Mamdani emphatically proclaimed, “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So hear me President Trump when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”