Mistress of Spices - review from ScreenDaily.com

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Mistress Of Spices
Allan Hunter in Toronto 16 September 2005



Dir: Paul Mayeda Berges. UK. 2005. 92mins.

A featherweight, feelgood romance, The Mistress Of Spices is heavily reliant on the radiant beauty of Aishwarya Rai for any modest charm that it may possess. The directorial debut of Paul Mayeda Berges promises to add a taste of India to a Chocolat-style scenario but falls considerably short of the mark.

The film is attractive enough but is so contrived and insubstantial that it become the cinematic equivalent of a Mills & Boon novel. Commercial possibilities exist in any territory where Rai’s name holds marquee value but this is too bland to suggest any great theatrical potential elsewhere.

The husband of Gurinder Chadha and her regular screenwriting partner, Berges’ first feature is cute and smoothly handled but largely unpersuasive. This may be the fault of the source material (a novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni) as there is an underlying artificiality in the way situations are developed and resolved.

In Oakland, California, Tilo (Rai) runs an emporium called Spice Bazaar. Her devoted regulars look to her for spices that can cure their problems, assist their romantic hopes and improve their lives.

They do not realise that she is part of a secret clan of women who have been taught the mysteries of the spices. She has a psychic ability to see into other people’s lives and predict their futures. But she must abide by a strict set of seemingly arbitrary rules; she can never leave the shop (how she manages we never discover), she cannot touch another’s skin and she can never use the power of the spices for her own benefit.

When she meets handsome architect Doug (Dylan McDermott), she becomes distracted by her own desires and soon discovers the dark side of the spices. He infallible instincts start to fail her and she is torn between love and loyalty to her chosen calling.

Given that most of the story takes place within the Spice Bazaar shop, the film has the potential to feel quite theatrical. Berges largely avoids that with soap-opera vignettes of the lives that Tilo helps, from taxi driver Haroun (Ganatra) to troubled adolescent Jagjit (Dulay).

He also covers Tilo’s backstory in economical flashbacks depicting the death of her parents, her abduction by pirates and escape to an island where her training began.

The film has a smooth flow but never quite persuades the audience to take a leap of faith and believe in the story. The fantasy element seem at odds with the more realistic tales of Indians struggling to bridge the culture gap between the traditions of their native country and the liberating new freedoms of America. The central romance is also a little on the dull side.

A shaggy, sincere Dylan McDermott fails to make Doug seem an irresistible catch and there is no real spark of chemistry with the undeniably lovely Rai. When you are not rooting for the star-crossed lovers to find a happy ending then any love story is in trouble.



Main cast
Aishwarya Rai
Dylan McDermott
Nitin Ganatra
Anupam Kher
Sonny Gill Dulay
Padma Lakshmi

http://www.screendaily.com/story.asp?storyid=23403

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ha ha! balle balle amritsar to LA

indiatimes.com describes Mistress Of Spice premiere at TIFF as a low key, quite event. (Aish did not come for the premiere).

http://people.indiatimes.com/quickieart ... h's~latest

I wonder whether the theatre (1200 seater x 3 shows) really was sold out as I found out from the booking clerk (I tried so hard 36 hrs straight starting from the earliest booking time)??
I don't believe 3600 people saw Mistress Of Spice and it's described as Low Key.
I guess, they didn't want to fill the theatre?? Or, someone goofed.

Mistress Of Spices seems to have released quitely in many countries and disappeared quitely. So, is it a flop ?? No matter what the outcome in other countries, money machines are in US-Canada and Mistress Of Spices seems to be releasing in main stream theatres in a big way here with advanced screenings (Ottawa -- July 26) and contests for free tickets for the advanced screenings. Seems like a wide release instead of limited release, unlike WATER.

i watch the cam rip and it sucks

Mistress Of Spices Limited/ Canada Wide Release :

Listings call it a Limited Release, but it's showing at 10 theatres in Toronto, 5 theares in Vancouver plus 1 in Victoria, 2 in Ottawa, 2 in Edmonton, 1 in Calgary, Montreal, Winnipeg. Not sure if in other cities too ?? (That's aprox 80 shows daily)

Ottawa:
http://www.cinemaclock.com/aw/cmva.aw?p ... bmit=Go%21
Week of Friday 28/07 through Thursday 3/08/2006

Mistress of Spices

Playing this week at:

Empire World Exchange Centre 7 (Empire Theatres)
111 Albert St., Ottawa
Every day: 1:15, 3:55, 6:45, 9:30

Kanata 24 (AMC)
801 Earl Grey Dr., Kanata
Fri, Sat, Sun: 11:20am, 1:55, 4:30, 7:15, 9:40
Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu: 11:55am, 4:30, 7:15, 9:40

My comments on Mistress Of Spices:

It's a typical Hollywood type film to cater to Western audiences. Looks like, it got released in Canada this week and is yet to release in the US. Curosiry is maintained throughout the film. One is a bit disappointed in the beginning seeing Miss Universe in a simple attire but a brief scene in the end hints at Aish giving up her inhibitions on Hollywood type scenes. IMHO, Miss Universe, Exotic/ Spicy film name, required more daring, but normal for Hollywood, scenes.

Anpadh song "Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha Pyar Ke Kaabil Mujhe" tune, used in the film and in end credits, is a Bally Sagoo Remix.

BTW, Film is made in UK Studios and not in Hollywood.

Whatever the Box Office Verdict, producers sure will recover their costs from DVD releases as it sure will appeal to North American main stream audiences.

I am glad! finally some one liked this film

Aishwarya simply cannot act in any English speaking role! As a matter of fact most Indian actors cannot perform well in English speaking roles. Their delivery of dialogue always sounds weak and unnatural. Only a few actors like Naseeruddin, Om Puri and Rahul Bose can pull it off.

she was excellent in provoked!!

I haven't seen it so I can't say. But provoked was directed by Jag Mundhra, who makes crappy soft-porn films. How can he make a good film? I saw his attempt at making serious films with Bawander and that film was weak to say the least.

Then, what about KAMLA ??