12 Insane Early Movie Roles By MCU Actors

It's not unusual for a terrible movie to be shelved until its formerly desperate-for-work star suddenly becomes a big name to cash in on. Few of those old shames sneaking out of the closet are quite as bad or as odd, though, as Brie Larson's Basmati Blues.

The Captain Marvel star was cast in the film at the beginning of 2013, just before the release of her breakout as a dramatic leading actress in Short Term 12, but it didn't get a release until 2018, by which time it had the benefit of an Oscar winner who was also headlining a billion dollar franchise.

Basmati Blues is an odd mix of cross-cultural romance and condemnation of the exploitative practices of major multi-national agricultural corporations, all with the cast performing original songs from the likes of Pearl Jam.

Larson stars as a scientist who creates a new strain of "super rice", that classic romcom meet-cute, but realises when falling for an Indian farmer that her corporation destroys the local rice-farming way of life. Not before evil capitalist Donald Sutherland can perform his big number about genetic modification and "The Greater Good", though.

A tribute to Bollywood from a white American first-time director, who described this as a passion project despite having never seen a Bollywood movie before developing the film, it is perhaps no surprise that this musical was a little tone deaf.

Seen as a patronising, culturally insensitive white saviour story, Basmati Blues was described by the Hindustan Times as "unbelievably and insultingly racist". It's almost impossible to figure out who this movie was actually designed for, which probably explains why it was eventually put out on video-on-demand and basically disappeared completely.