“The Mistress of Spices reps
a brave but flawed attempt at that most unforgiving of contemporary
genres, magical realism. Tale of an exquisite young Indian woman, who
oversteps the boundaries of her powers as a spice dispenser in San Francisco's
Bay area. Rai plays Tilo, orphaned by some unexplained regional strife
in India, kidnapped by bandits and, after escaping and being washed
up on a beach, finally educated, along with other girls, in the magical
properties of spices by an old woman (vet Zohra Segal). Next thing we
see, Tilo has moved Stateside as an adult and is running a small spice
shop-cum-dispensary in Oakland. However, her powers will only last if
(a) she never uses them for her own gain, (b) she never leaves the shop,
and (c) never touches the skin of another person. All seems to be going
well with her regular, ethnically mixed clientele, until hunky architect
Doug (Dylan McDermott) crashes his Harley outside her shop… Script,
by Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham, Bride & Prejudice)
and writing partner-husband Paul Mayeda Berges, is adapted from a 1997
novel by Indian-born, U.S.-based scribe Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni which
mixes poetry and prose. Berges, making his helming debut, directs in
an ultra-smooth manner and exploits to the max Rai's iconic, model-like
beauty and McDermott's beefcake looks.” — Variety
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