mistress_of_spices.jpg Here’s a hot movie tip. If you are look­ing for gra­tu­it­ous viol­ence and action stop read­ing right now. Instead, if you appre­ci­ate bril­liantly com­posed shots, being sub­merged in a rich, envel­op­ing, sen­sual, and splen­didly con­ceived story, the Mis­tress of Spices a per­fect movie, espe­cially for Valentine’s Day. Paul­ette picked out this movie on the week­end and I have to admit to being abso­lutely engrossed for the dur­a­tion.

The film fea­tures Aish­warya Rai as Tilo, an orphan who is raised within a sect ded­ic­ated to bring­ing the heal­ing power of spices to man­kind. It co-stars Dermott Mul­roney, but don’t let that make you walk away — his pres­ence doesn’t get int he way of a superb pic­ture. Rai is a beau­ti­ful woman and a won­der­ful act­ress, you may remem­ber her as Lal­ita in Bride and Pre­ju­dice. This film com­bines and Indian appre­ci­ation for move­ment and ges­ture, not unlike Kapur’s Eliza­beth. In Mis­tress, The plot is simple, the beauty of this film lies in the sta­ging. The spices them­selves are front and centre. The shop that Tilo runs in sim­ilar to a 19thC apothecary’s shop with dark woods and elab­or­ate nook and cran­ny­ing. Pop­u­lar spices are arranged in won­der­ful col­our­ful and vivid pyr­am­ids on low plat­forms down the centre of the shop. There are count­less small shelves and draw­ers. The spices in raw and pro­cessed form are thought­fully presen­ted. The movie is set beau­ti­fully. I don’t want to ela­bour­ate on the plot as I do want you to find this one and watch it.

I heart­ily recom­mend and would love to hear any com­ments if you hap­pen to catch this won­der­ful film.