Mirch Masala (Translation: Hot Spice) is a 1987 Hindi psychological thriller film directed by Ketan Mehta.

[1] In the early 1940s,[2] an arrogant subedar (Naseeruddin Shah) (local tax collector in colonial India) and his henchmen ride into a village, scaring a group of women fetching water.

Sonbai (Smita Patil) alone stands her ground and politely asks them not to let horses into the village's potable water source.

The mukhi's younger brother (Mohan Gokhale) is in love with a lower caste girl, but dares not mention it.

Sonbai takes refuge in a masala karkhana (spice factory where red chillies are ground into powder).

Abu Mian chides the mukhi and the villagers; they may lord it over their wives at home, but are not man enough to face the subedar.

They attack the subedar with bagfuls of lal mirch masala (fresh ground red chilli powder) in teams of two.

The film ends with the subedar on his knees, screaming in pain as the chilli burns his face and eyes.