Monday, May 01, 2006

'The Mistress Of Spices'

Banner: Kintop Pictures, Balle Pictures, Capitol Films, Ingenious Films Partners and Isle of Man Film
Director: Paul Mayeda Berges
Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Dylan McDermott, Anupam Kher, Nitin Chandra Ganatra, Ayesha Dharker, Caroline Chikezie, Adewale Akinnloye-Agbaje, Padma Lakshmi, Zohra Sehgal, Shaheen Khan, Bansree Madhani, Sonny Gill Dulay, Nina Young, Toby Marlow, Paul Bhattacharjee, Rebecca Bowden, Harvey Virdi, Cosima Shaw and Anthony Zaki.
Cinematography: Santosh Sivan
Editor: Alex Rodriguez
Costume: Stewart Meachem
Hairstylist: Charmaine Fuller
Story/Writer: Gurindher Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Released on: 28 April 2006

The Mistress of Spices is an enchanting and sensual fable about the romantic and personal conflicts that face Tilo, a beautiful young woman, trained in ancient and magical art of spices. Ordained with special powers to help those that come to her, Tilo can sense people’s problems with a startling ability to see into their past and future.

Tilo works in a small San Francisco store called the ‘Spice Bazaar’, where, with guidance of her spices, she finds perfect remedy for anyone who walks through her door. For her powers to work, she must obey 3 simple but strict rules– she must use the spices only to help others, she must not touch another human’s skin and she must never leave her store.

When Doug, a handsome, enigmatic architect crashes his Harley Davison outside her San Francisco store, she has to tend to his wounds and her life is changed forever. For the first time Tilo’s own desires are stirred– is there more to life than helping others? Tilo knows the rules and her spices warn her to stay away. But Doug doesn’t have any spices telling him what to do and soon returns with flowers to ask her on a date.

No matter how hard she resists him, his persistence, honesty and friendship draws them closer and closer to each other. When they accidentally touch, another rule is broken and the spices are enraged. The spices are in no mood for either leniency or romance but Tilo is captivated by the force of love and agrees to go on a date leaving her spices behind. Spices begin to punish her– the more she falls in love and defies the rules, the more her customers suffer.

All Tilo wants to do is carry on her work helping others and fall in love as well, but she is forced into a painful dilemma. If she turns her back on her way of life, all the people that she has helped will suffer, but if she doesn’t, she will lose Doug forever!

Tilo must now confront her past, her friends, her desires and ultimately the spices to decide if she can fight for a new life of her choosing or must return to the old one.

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