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The Mistress Of Spices (2005)

Director: Paul Mayeda Berges

Average user rating
3 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Indian immigrant Tilo (Aishwarya Rai) runs Spice Bazaar, a spice shop in Oakland, California. As well as supplying her customers with condiments, she also offers what their hearts desire, for Tilo is a ‘Mistress’, a priestess of the secret magical healing powers of the spices. When hunky American Doug (Dylan McDermott, wooden) ventures into Tilo’s establishment, he unlocks her forbidden passions, which threaten to destroy her ‘spice-girl’ power…

First-time director Paul Mayeda Berges’ ambitious but flawed film is based on the novel by American Bengali writer Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It’s a near-faithful adaptation with one major change: Tilo is young and pretty, not ‘ugly and old’ as in the book. Presumably, this was to accommodate the casting of the gorgeous Rai, Bollywood’s biggest female star, continuing her quest for suitable crossover material after 2004’s ‘Bride and Prejudice’ (‘Mistress…’ is co-written by that film’s director and Berges’ wife, Gurinder Chadha). This is the film’s fatal flaw: Rai’s limited acting range, and trademark doe-eyed looks are insufficient to engage us and transcend the film’s preposterous ‘Chocolat’-like plot. Consequently, it’s difficult to care about Tilo’s predicament, or any of the other characters, a bunch of NRI (Non-Resident Indian) stereotypes.

While it’s commendable to see the talented ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ husband-and-wife duo making films about the wider Indian diaspora and experimenting with unusual themes, it’s such a disappointment that the end result is a bland, feeble fable.

Author: Anil Sinanan 2006-04-18 10:46:41

Time Out London Issue 1861: April 19-26 2006

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User reviews of this film

  • Rekha said...
    Posted on Feb 04 2009 18:29 This movie was so lame. I didn't know whether I should laugh, sleep or cry. I ended up leaving the theater and going home.
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  • kumudu said...
    Posted on Apr 07 2008 00:18 A very good movie that might be hard for the normal movie goer to understand. This is a good movie to show in a postcolonial theory class. it is about domestic and public spheres and the struggle between nri women's duty towards tradition and family and their own individual desires. it also provides a nice way at the end to reconcile these conflicts as well. Blend individual desires with the commitment to tradition.
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  • Andrew Morgan said...
    Posted on Oct 08 2007 09:18 This was a very interesting movie. The way made and stuff likw that is very good.
    Report as inappropriate

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Cast & crew

Director: Paul Mayeda Berges

Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Anupam Kher, Dylan McDermott, Ayesha Dharker, Sonny Gill Dulay, Nitin Chandra Ganatra, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje full cast

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Duration: 92 mins


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