A die-hard fan of Aishwarya, I must start out by saying that Aishwarya looks absolutely drop-dead gorgeous in the red sari. This is one of her most beautiful looks on screen ever. Mistress of Spices dishes up an interesting fare that deals with Aishwarya, a woman with an extraordinary gift that allows her to envision the problems others are going through and the ability to mix the right spices that will solve their problems. She does this by means of a Spice Bazaar store in San Francisco where customers seek her for help. It is quite interesting to see how she helps her diverse clientèle and loyal customers through the use of spices (which by the way seems very possible, as Indian herbal medicine argues that different spices have different chemicals that control our mind and body). However, being a "mistress of spices," Aishwarya is bound by certain rules, which she begins to find suppressing and enslaving once she begins to fall in love. What is interesting about this movie is that there is not much of a plot and mainly just a small store for sets. This film looks at the art of using spices to improve lives and delves into Aishwarya's internal conflict between love and duty, making this a very interesting and reinvigorating movie.

So I randomly flipped open a newspaper one Friday night to look at the movie listings, and on a whim decided to check this one out. I was expecting something simple, dumb, yet enchanting - something in the realm of Chocolat or Bewitched. This, however, was WAY below my expectations, and I think that could have been prevented by simply adding one ingredient - a different director.

Aishwarya is absolutely beautiful, and I'm sure that she can act - when she's given something to work with. Unfortunately her only given function in the movie is to stare wide-eyed out the window of her shop at the world around her. How disappointing. Then there's Dylan McDermott, the beautiful stranger who captures the mistress' attention. He's cute enough to pull off his part well, and seems to be the master of sultry stares. Then comes the myriad of regular customers, bright and interesting personalities that could have been the highlight of this movie if it weren't for the director's insistence on putting random Tilo voice-overs in whenever the customers were about to say something interesting. Was it really necessary for them to be constantly interrupted?

The problem isn't in the story - it's quite enchanting. Banal, yes, but what movie isn't nowadays? The problem was the lack of subtlety. OH NOES! DANGER! THE CAMERA'S SUDDENLY FOCUSSING ON A PILE OF RED CHILI PEPPERS! The problem got so serious that 20 minutes into the movie, the audience (including myself) would laugh at every chili pepper that came onto the screen. Constant flashes forward to events that may or may not happen? Unnecessary. Doug's extremely random back-story that doesn't greatly affect the plot? Unnecessary. The store suddenly collapsing thanks to mysterious unexplained powers? Weird, and again unnecessary. If only Gurinder Chadra, the screenwriter, had directed this. I really enjoyed her Bend it Like Beckham, which nicely mixed cheesy Bollywood cinema with modern "dromedy". I think something much nicer (and much more tasteful) would have been produced.

In India, Tilo (Aishwarya Rai) has the ability of foreseeing the future. When their parents are killed by bandits, she is kidnapped but escapes and is raised by the First Mother (Zohra Segal) in a sort of traditional cult of spices. She becomes the Mistress of Spices and is sent to the Spice Bazaar in San Francisco, with the mission of following three basic rules: help her clients to accomplish their desires with the spices, but never hers; never leave the store; and never be touched in the skin. When she meets the handsome American architect Doug (Dylan McDermott), she feels a great attraction and desire for him, breaking the first rule and being punished by the spices.

"The Mistress of Spices" is a predictable but pleasant film that uses the idea of movies like "Chocolate", "Woman on Top", "Como Agua Para Chocolate" blending romance with food or spice or chocolate or cookies. Therefore, the flawed story has no originality and is quite boring and messy in many moments. However, the cinematography is wonderful, with magnificent colors highlighted on DVD. Further, the gorgeous Miss World 1994 and Queen of Bollywood Aishwarya Rai makes this little film worth with her beauty and participating in most of the scenes. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Sabor da Magia" ("The Flavor of Magic")