The Mistress of Spices (film)
| Mistress of Spices | |
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 Movie poster for The Mistress of Spices |
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| Directed by | Paul Mayeda Berges |
| Written by | Gurinder Chadha Paul Mayeda Berges Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni |
| Starring | Aishwarya Rai Dylan McDermott Ayesha Dharker |
| Editing by | Alex Rodríguez |
| Release date(s) | 21 April 2005 |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Mistress of Spices (2005) is a film by Paul Mayeda Berges, with a screenplay by Gurinder Chadha and Berges. It is based upon the novel The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. The film stars Aishwarya Rai. The soundtrack was created by Craig Pruess, who also contributed to the Bend It Like Beckham soundtrack.
[edit] Plot synopsis
Tilo (Aishwarya Rai), an immigrant from India, is a shopkeeper, clairvoyant, and a mistress of spices. The spices she gives to her customers help them to satisfy their needs and desires, such as "sandalwood to dispel painful memories; black cumin seed to protect against evil eye."
As a young girl, Tilo was initiated as one of several young Mistresses of Spices by a First Mother (Zohra Sehgal) who warns the girls about rules they must follow, or face consequences. They are instructed never to leave their respective stores all around the world, touch the skin of the people they meet or use the spices to their own ends.
Tilo ends up in the San Francisco Bay Area in a store called "Spice Bazaar". Tilo's customers include Haroun, a cab driver (Nitin Ganatra), a grandfather (Anupam Kher) dealing with an American-born granddaughter Geeta (Padma Lakshmi), Kwesi, a man trying to impress his girlfriend (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Jagjit, a teenager trying to fit in at school (Sonny Gill Dulay).
Her life takes a turn one day, when a man on a motorcycle (Dylan McDermott) crashes outside her store. Tilo tends to his injuries, while trying to ignore their mutual attraction. Her life changes when he touches her and they begin to fall in love. This man, Doug, is an American and an architect.
But the spices are jealous, and things soon start to go sour in her relationships with her other customers. Haroun gets in an accident, Geeta's family situation does not improve, Jagjit falls in with the wrong crowd at school, and Kwesi's girlfriend breaks up with him. Doug comes to meet her that night and tells her that his mother died.
Tilo recognizes that the source of these misfortunes is her breaking of the rules. The First Mother comes to her in a vision and chastises her. She vows that she will return to India, and posts a notice about a closing sale. She goes all out to help her customers one last time and tells the spices that she will spend just one night with Doug, and then she will give herself totally to them. She closes the store and goes off with Doug for the night. After a sweet night of love-making, she leaves him a note that she must leave and cannot return, but she will always love him. Then she goes back to the store and sets the spices on fire, with her at the center of the flames.
Doug comes searching for her, and finds the store devastated. But Tilo has not been burned alive after all; she is still there, alive and barely conscious. There is no sign of a fire, but there has been an earthquake. We see a vision of the First Mother sitting at the beach, telling her that because she demonstrated her willingness to give up everything for the spices, now she can have everything and they will never desert her again. Doug agrees to help her rebuild the store, and she reunites with him.
[edit] Cast
- Aishwarya Rai - Tilo
- Dylan McDermott - Doug
- Ayesha Dharker - Hameeda
- Nitin Ganatra - Haroun
- Sonny Gill Dulay - Jagjit
- Anupam Kher - Geeta's Grandfather
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - Kwesi
- Toby Marlow - Young Doug (5-6yrs)
- Caroline Chikezie - Myisha
- Padma Lakshmi - Geeta
[edit] External links
- Mistress: Aishwarya's best work?
- Mistress of Spices Movie Trailer
- Interview with director Paul Mayeda
- Mistress of Spices at the Internet Movie Database
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