SOFT, POIGNANT MOVIE. Review on Mistress of Spices

This is an unusual movie with an unusual story.

The story is unusual -- here is Aishwarya Rai to whom the spices talk. The conversation is beautifully captured by the camera. It gives you a glimpse of wisdom too -- what different spices are meant for. Before you rush and spike up your meals with garlic, open your mind for hidden meanings too.

The underlying theme is whether we can do our thing without sacrificing our life, and the answer is that you can. There is no need to live a life without the good things in order to serve a higher purpose. The dilemma is well payed out by Aishwarya Rai, who proves once again that she is the mistress of cinema as well.

The film is very beautiful. You have to pay attention to the rich soundtrack also, with dollops of voice of Aishwarya. Tablas, sitar pick up into a crescendo -- a deep contrast to the meaningless percussion instruments that you hear these days. In short, the film was a delight, at least to me.

It may be difficult to understand the film. The newspaper reviewers have totally missed it -- Outlook rates the movie as avoidable and The Hindu too follows in something of that tone. It seems the journalists did not understand the story or the presentation. In any case, the movies that they discredit go on to become hits -- remember Amitabh Bachchan's movies and how they were torn apart by stupid journalists?

I would recommend this movie, but go with an open mind and with open eyes and ears. It is a pleasure to see such a uniquely different and well enacted movie!