The Mistress of Spices (2005)

India is a land of myths, magic and tradition. When immigrants from India come to the West they often lose these traditions. This is a story about what happens when such traditions are lost.”

So states Paul Mayeda Berges,Gurinder Chada (Of "Bend it Like Bekham" fame) and Deepak Nayar's film, "Mistress of Spices" staring Aiswarya Rai, Dylan Mcdermott and Anupam Kher.

(Watch the trailer here)

The story in a nutshell:



Tilo (Aiswarya Rai) has the gift of clairvoyance and has had it from childhood. Due to a strange twist in fate she ends up with a mystical cult for girls only where she is taught that spices contain magic and can be used to heal people physically and emotionally. As a young woman, she is sent to Oakland, California to open a spice shop but is gravely instructed that the spices will work their magic on her patients only as long as Tilo follows three rules:

She has to respect and listen to the spices, never leaving them alone for a single moment (in other words, she is bound to her spice shop)

She must never touch anyone or allow them to touch her.

And finally, she must NEVER use any of the spice magic to fuel her own desires.

(The spice shop with its spices. The spices were perhaps the only characters in the movie worth raving about!)

Flouting one or all of these rules would diminish her healing power with the spices. As a result of all these conditions, Tilo is a sad recluse, letting love and life go by her until one day she falls in love with an American customer (Dylan McDermott) and the spices go completely ballistic on her. ( Just for that I think the book/movie should have been renamed "The Slave of Spices" or "The Spice Who Loved Me" with apologies to Trupti ofcourse!).

Anyhow, Tilo knows that the spices will never let her know any happiness with "The American", but she is so tired of being lonely and unloved that she decides she will allow herself just one night with this man and then return to the spices forever -(whoa, that poor guy is being used and he doesn't even realise it!). Guess Tilo subscribed to the philosophy that it is better to love (read make love) and lose than to not have loved at all.

(no chemistry whatsoever)

The movie is based on Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's book of the same name which I remember reading 10 years ago. I really can't comment on the book because the only part that stayed with me was some of the descriptions of the spices which she wrote in that magical realism style that I enjoyed so much.

I thought the movie, while very average in the acting and script departments, did have some nice cinematography (the cinematographer is Santosh Sivan of "Dil Se" fame). The spice shop with its beautiful, exotic spices and colours engages the senses and Aiswarya Rai is as beautiful as ever, a little boring maybe, but beautiful nonetheless, however, despite the "Spice" in the title, please don't expect any...this movie is as bland as milk. Aiswarya and McDermott have absolutely no chemistry between them. I was expecting so much more from this cross cultural romance!

(Tilo readying herself for her one night of passion)

The movie helped renew my interest in our Indian home remedies, but I will tell you it made me view my spice cabinet with great trepidition - everytime I open it now, I half expect the fenugreek to burst into song "I, fenugreek who renders the body sweet again, ready for loving", or for the red chillies (considered in the spice world to warn of danger) to throw me some dire warning circling above my head like a hawk croaking "I, Chilli, was born of agni, god of fire. I dripped from his fingertips to bring taste to this bland earth"

(all pictures courtesy Hindustan Times)

Would I recommend the movie? Nah, don't waste your time. This year will probably have me watching more cinema than reading books, so why don't you nominate a movie that in your opinion should win the "waste of time" award, it will help me get to the good movies faster! :)

Quick Update: For those of us that love movies having to do with food/cooking/foreign cuisine etc., Wu Wei has a nice recommendation. It's a Greek movie titled "Politiki Kouzina" or "A Touch of Spice" in English. I plan on renting the DVD if Blockbusters has it.