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The Mistress of Spices - Aishwarya Rai, Dylan McDermott, Ayesha Dharker, Paul Mayeda Burges
Threat advisory: Under evaluation
Movie propaganda
One spice for passion. And one woman who knows its name.
Tilo (Aishwarya Rai) is an outsider from India who has to come to terms with her new country, America. But as a Mistress of Spices there are certain rules she must follow. Tilo runs a spice store in San Francisco and has a magical gift of seeing into her customers' lives and desires. She gives them different spices to help them get what they want. In order for the magic to work, Tilo must obey the rules set out for a mistress - never leave the store, never touch another human, and love only the spices.
When Doug (Dylan McDermott) - a handsome, enigmatic American with a secret past - enters her store, Tilo's own desires are stirred for the first time. She begins to feel passion for the American and as she becomes closer to Doug, the spices she has given her other customers begin to misbehave. The more Tilo falls in love and begins to defy the rules, the worse the lives of her customers become. Tilo must decide. Will she choose forbidden love for an American over devotion to her spices and her traditions?
Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda
- Film India romance spice San Francisco shop magic fantasy
Persons of interest
- Aishwarya Rai .... Tilo
- Dylan McDermott .... Doug
- Ayesha Dharker .... Hameeda
- Nitin Chandra Ganatra .... Haroun
- Sonny Gill Dulay .... Jagjit
- Anupam Kher .... Geeta's Grandfather
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje .... Kwesi
- Toby Marlow .... Young Doug
- Caroline Chikezie .... Myisha
- Padma Lakshmi .... Geeta
- Paul Bhattacharjee .... Ramu
- Harvey Virdi .... Geeta's Mother
- Anthony Zaki .... Doctor
- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni .... Author
- Gurinder Chadha .... Screenwriter
- Paul Mayeda Berges .... Screenwriter
- Paul Mayeda Berges .... Director
Cinematic intelligence sources
- The Mistress of Spices official movie site
- The Mistress of Spices film production notes
- The Mistress of Spices QuickTime movie trailers
- Awards and film festivals:
- Toronto International Film Festival 2005: Screening
- See also Chocolat, Spice of life (American blend)
- Studios and distributors:
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
The India, romance movie The Mistress of Spices is directed by Paul Mayeda Burges and stars Aishwarya Rai, Dylan McDermott, Ayesha Dharker.
Government security censorship classification
M (Moderate violence)
Surveillance time
92 minutes (1:32 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
Film: Undated 2006
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