2/5 Pass the salt, skip this spice
  by Nazook (USA)
I like watching Bollywood movies...especially if Aishwarya Rai is in them (I think she's a great actress). However, I was extremely disappointed with this film. There was absolutely no chemistry between her and Dylan's character - as in ZERO!! Besides that the storyline was just so odd. I kinda made my husband watch this movie with me and later regretted it. It's been months since we've seen it and every once in a while he'll tease me by asking, "what your's spice?" I don't understand why someone as talented [and beautiful] as she is would sign on to make a movie like this. Oh, forgot to add... does she wear contacts? Her eyes were red through most of the movie.. and when they'd zoom in I'd sometimes cringe because it was so bad. Did anyone else notice this?

5/5 Great Movie Can't Wait To Read The Book
  by Mark Showalter (Mt Dora, Florida United States)
This is now one of my favorite movies. Although it is a romantic comedy there is a lot more to this film than that. The clash of cultures & generations & displaced peoples is all over this film & it makes it all the more interesting. Any fans of Bell, Book & Candle will probably love this movie although the male lead is no James Stewart but close enough.Have to get the book now..........

4/5 Rich and sensual, I truly liked this film.
  by Zeek (Lancaster, PA USA)
Mistress of Spices starring the extraordinarily beautiful and altogether graceful Aishwarya Rai and the prosaic Dylan McDermott, turned into a nice little surprise for me.

Aishwarya Rai stars as Tilo, an Indian Spice store owner who has basically sold her soul to the spices to be able to heal & satisfy the needs and desires of her patrons by whatever quasi-mystical means necessary.

The movie had the feel of Chocolat for me- only with less charismatic actors. Which is a shame, because I would love to see Aishwarya hit it big over here- and this movie should have been a good beginning! Unfortunately, it falls a little short.

To be honest, its Aishwarya is the reason I rented the movie. (McDermott, not one of my favorite actors- he plays it a little to low-key for me to go all gaga over him, despite his good looks.) Thankfully Aishwarya was strong enough to carry the movie. She made this movie, which in many ways would only have been so-so, into something more moving.

What worked for me? The conflict. She knows she has a gift. But she also has desires that go against the rules of keeping the gift. Should she sacrifice her own desires for the needs of her friends and patrons- or she should give in to her wants and seek the happiness she senses could be hers with another?

What didn't work for me? Mcdermott and a less than sparkling script ruined the chance for it to go down as an all time fav for me.

Still I found it quite appealing- and a movie that will stick with me for some time to come.

4/5 A bit of magical realism with some beautiful direction
  by Tracy L. Scharbach (Seattle, WA USA)
Mistress of Spices is a film sort of like Chocolat, where it's in the real world but there's an accepted level of "magic" that exists that pushes the story along. In Chocolat, the protagonist used her chocolate concoctions to help people and revolutionize the towns she lives in. In Mistress of Spices, she uses, of course, spice to help people and revolutionize her own life.

The main actors in this are quite good. Aishwarya Rai does well, once you get past her slightly awkward narration right at the beginning. I don't usually like Dylan McDermott, but he was quite good in this. I think, however, that his character was such that pretty much any "dark-haired stranger" type of actor could have played him with the same effectiveness.

The existing magic in the film is all in Rai's character and the spices she communicates with. She has a skill at "seeing" people's problems and can use the spices to remedy them. If you have any trouble with the mixing of fantasy and reality in a story, then stay away from this as it will only frustrate you. Luckily, I have no such problem and so enjoyed it a great deal.

The movie isn't terribly dramatic. It's primarily a romantic story between the two main characters, but of course everything has to go awry before it can have the happy ending, so there's a little bit of drama to keep the movie going. It's above all, a fairly light film, much like Chocolat, which is the most similar film I can think of with which to compare Mistress of Spices.

It's good! Nothing that will change your life forever, of course, but it's a solidly enjoyable movie.

3/5 different
  by Lin (Cleveland OH)
This movie was not quite what I expected. It had a bit more of an element of fantasy than I thought it would. I thought it was worth watching once, and more than once if you are a fan of Aishwarya Rai, which I am, but it was definately a drama, not a comedy. A lot of the plot involves the main character holding an internal converstaion with the spices in her shop - essentially talking to herself - , so while there are a few life-and-death moments, the plot generally moves along at a pretty sedate pace. Definately a chick flick. But like I said, worth watching once.