The Mistress of Spices (2005)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Paul Mayeda Berges

Writers (WGA):

Gurinder Chadha (screenplay) &
Paul Mayeda Berges (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 April 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

One spice for passion. And one woman who knows its name.

Plot:

In India, Tilo has the ability of foreseeing the future. When their parents are killed by bandits, she...

Plot Keywords:

Spice | Taxi Driver | Cab Driver | Grandfather Granddaughter Relationship | Guilt

Cast

Aishwarya Rai	...	Tilo
Dylan McDermott	...	Doug
Nitin Ganatra	...	Haroun Rehman
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	...	Kwesi
Caroline Chikezie	...	Myisha
Anupam Kher	...	Geeta's Grandfather
Shaheen Khan	...	Jagit's Mother
Sonny Gill Dulay	...	Jagjit
Nina Young	...	Doug's Mother
Toby Marlow	...	Young Doug
Padma Lakshmi	...	Geeta
Zohra Sehgal	...	First Mother (as Zohra Segal)
Paul Bhattacharjee	...	Satish - Geeta's dad
Ayesha Dharker	...	Hameeda - Haroun's neighbor
Rebecca Bowden	...	Bougainvillea Girl

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violent images and sensuality

Runtime:

92 min | Canada:92 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:12A | UK:12A | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Hong Kong:IIA | Malaysia:U | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:Atp | Italy:T | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Baker's Beach, Presidio, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Balle Pictures

Trivia:

The motorcycle used in the film is a 2004 790cc Triumph (Hinckley) Bonneville.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Tilo makes "paan" for Kwesi, she is shown putting some betel nuts and finally a cardamom in the paan. However, upon revelation, a clove is seen in the paan which was never there before.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Contractor (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha

Missed With Awful Spices

When the chillies in a spice shop get more on screen attention than the leading man in a romance, you've got yourself big, big problems. Here are just a few: She's not allowed to touch a human... SHE'S RUBBING HER COUSIN'S HAND 5 MINUTES IN! Does every Indian now living in San Francisco have a history blighted by parricide!? When a film relies on over 50% of it's dialogue through the source of spoken thought it is corrupt of imagination.

On a more general note: Mistress of the Spices is a poor story poorly told. It's cliché ridden; the dialogue is shocking; the acting is unconvincing and the directing woefully one dimensional. Aishwarya Rai does indeed have stunning eyes - but does the camera really need to give us close-ups of them every 4 minutes!? There is nothing to recommend this febrile nonsense. It is patronising to both the Sub-Continent and the West and, as a metaphor, is as involving as if she'd have ran a DIY store. Actually...

If you're a fan of film and want to see how to get everything wrong - watch this. If you think time is too precious, have a curry instead - it's infinitely more authentic and satisfying.