Masala

From the opening of Srinivas Krishna's vibrant directorial debut, you know you're in for something different as an obviously model plane explodes and brightly coloured saris float down. Aboard are an Indian family returning home after emigrating to Canada, and the film recounts a bizarre chain of events among the extended family they leave behind. Rebel son Krishna (played by the director) returns to the fold, introducing one cousin to magic mushrooms, another to sex; his rich uncle harbours suspected terrorists in his sari shop while hobnobbing with the Minister of Multi-Culturalism; Grandma Tikkoo (the wonderfully expressive Segal) communicates with Lord Krishna via her video recorder; and Mounties ride around Toronto trying to keep the chaos under control. An uplifting, extremely funny film, this has some serious things to say about sexuality, race, religion and politics. It takes risks - drawing on Hindi musicals to convey the characters' inner lives isn't an unqualified success - but without them, Masala wouldn't be nearly as spicy.