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:

Gurinder Chadha and her mother made all the mango and carrot pickles seen at the spice store.

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:

References Chocolat (2000)

Soundtrack:

Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha

Interesting concept, fresh fare

A die-hard fan of Aishwarya, I must start out by saying that Aishwarya looks absolutely drop-dead gorgeous in the red sari. This is one of her most beautiful looks on screen ever. Mistress of Spices dishes up an interesting fare that deals with Aishwarya, a woman with an extraordinary gift that allows her to envision the problems others are going through and the ability to mix the right spices that will solve their problems. She does this by means of a Spice Bazaar store in San Francisco where customers seek her for help. It is quite interesting to see how she helps her diverse clientèle and loyal customers through the use of spices (which by the way seems very possible, as Indian herbal medicine argues that different spices have different chemicals that control our mind and body). However, being a "mistress of spices," Aishwarya is bound by certain rules, which she begins to find suppressing and enslaving once she begins to fall in love. What is interesting about this movie is that there is not much of a plot and mainly just a small store for sets. This film looks at the art of using spices to improve lives and delves into Aishwarya's internal conflict between love and duty, making this a very interesting and reinvigorating movie.