Well if the production values were good and there was a solid plot I can imagine it would go down not too bad at all. If somebody is abusing children and sacrificing humans I think most people would agree that they are bad regardless of their self-proclaimed affiliations.

The food was nasty and disgusting because the crops had all died after the Thuggee took the stones from the village. It didn't seem to me that the idea was to look down upon them because of the color of their skin. I always thought of it as a plot mechanism used to reinforce Indy's decision to help the people.

I've always loved Kipling's stories. It always felt like I was entering some grand adventure when I cracked open one of his books.

I don't really get offended about stories that glorify the decay of western civilization as long as in the context of the story it is justified. Likewise, I don't get offended when the bad guys are of an ethnical origin as long as the individuals being portrayed are really the bad guy.

I'll concede that some of the effects were a bit dated but it was only maybe 2 or 3 scenes in the whole movie. That airplane crash looked fake even as a kid. I'm still standing by TOD as being the 2nd best of the 4 movies though lol.

EDIT: I didn't think about the food at the palace. I can say my reaction as a kid was "I'll bet monkey brains taste pretty good" lol.