Diagonaldi Very well executed

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Imdbidia A tale in which spices have magical powers and the mistress of spices, a beautiful Hindu girl owner of a spice bazaar in San Francisco, is a sort of good witch. Her devotion to the spices guarantees her that they would reveal their secrets when somebody goes asking for help. However, the Mistress cannot leave the shop for any reason, can't be touched by anybody especially by a man, and has always to work for the welfare of the others not for her own. Otherwise, she would lose all her powers.The story is really non-believable, lacks in magic despite telling a story of Magic, and it is not engaging at all. In fact, the plot is ridiculous, not even believable for kids. If the script had focused just on the properties of spices (no in their magical virtues) and the social part of the shop and its owner, the plot would have improved immensely. Moreover, the movie is corny and has no charm.Some of the actors are good and believable in their roles, especially the always lovely Aishwarya Rai as the Mistress Lilo, Nirin Ganatra as her friend taxi-driver Haroun, and Anupam Kher as the traditional grandfather of a modern Indo-American girl. All of them also present in the very charming Bride and Prejudice.Real Bollywood movies are more daring and have much more class and charm that this one. I was extremely disappointed and, most importantly, bored and even embarrassed!

The Orion I am not a very pised or very frustrated dude. I have seen lot of great acting in my life. Its okay some people are not great actors its just that way and some are. Example Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Madhuri Dixit (Indian), Tabu (Indian). Aishwarya is no where closer. She is nothing but a pretty face and not just that she is damn arrogant. This works in India because for folks in India seeing somebody so beautiful is very rare. But at an international level I don't think she has the right material. Even in Bollywood, there are better actresses. She's a pretty face that sells tickets and people have taken her too far for what she's worth. Sorry Aishwarya and Aishwarya fans, I don't intend to be harsh or rude but this reality.Indian.

alan-culpitt What to say of this film? Well first the good bits. The story is an engaging fairy tale shot through with the kind of messy but engaging humanity that only India and Indians can bring. A sensuous feast for the eyes (I enjoyed the film whilst downing a bottle of wine with my other half) there are some gorgeous shots with piles of spices and herbs you can almost smell on the screen. Zhora Sehgal is always great and pops up in all sorts of films as "miscellaneous old Indian lady" and Aishwariya Rai is quite astonishingly loose-the-thread-of-what-you-were-talking-about beautiful.On the other hand Dylan McDermott is awful, utterly wooden and unconvincing as the architect-biker. Check out one shot where he looks utterly ridiculous with his crash helmet on. The ending's a bit of a disappointment too.All in all worth getting out on video and sitting back and revelling in the sensuous side of the film

davespamblock Everything was in place for this to be a real benchmark American Bollywood fusion flick (are there enough out there for that to be an actual genre?), but Dylan McDermott was so horribly miscast as Aishwarya Rai's love interest that I was gagging every time they shared the screen. Painfully unwatchable. How oafish, vapid and superficial can a guy be? Really, this film could have been so much more powerful with a more appropriate male lead.The idea of the magic of the spices was a bit of a stretch for me at first, but Aishwarya played it well and carried it off nicely. I liked how the intent of each spice could turn on its head if the rules were not followed. Great colors!Remember folks, listen to the chilies. They should have warned the casting director, heh heh.