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Aishwarya Rai has been a name to reckon with in the Indian cinema throughout the last decade. She won the Miss World title and became heartthrob of millions. She entered the Hindi film industry via south and after initial hiccups turned an actress for whom the directors and the producers always envied . She can play Nandini with all its nuances of a girl from a small village in Gujarat and she can equally well handle the role of a whore dancing on the tunes of "Kajra re Kajra re". So, what is now left for her? Her fans would say some meatier roles in films of makers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Yash Chopra and others. But, she has been thinking otherwise.

Aish feels that she has won India and must strive to win the world now. So, she acted in 'Pride and Prejudice'; she is ready to work with Will Smith even if she has to change dates of her shooting schedule for Ashutosh Gowarikar's 'Jodhabai Akbar' . With ' The Mistress of Spices', she has told the world that she is ready for all kinds of skin shows too that have been a big hurdle in her way to fit in 'James Bond Series'. Hope MGM people are watching her doing this. It was the maker of 'Bend It Like Beckham', Gurinder Chaddha who gave Aishwarya her first chance for acting abroad. She presented Aishwarya in a typical Indian girl's role in her last film 'Pride And Prejudice'. And, now Chaddha's husband Paul Mayeda Berges takes her away from the stereotype image. In a film written by him and his wife, he presents Aishwarya as a lady loaded with all those magical powers that she gets from the spices around. Be ready to welcome ' The Mistress of Spices'.

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Based on Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's novel by the same name, 'The Mistress Of Spices' is a film that will soothe you, if you have enough patience to sit in the dark hours of cinema for some time. It will take you to a totally unknown world where spices are not only the ingredients for daily meals, but they can work wonders for other things too. Aishwarya plays the lead role. She is known as Tilo who is running a spice bazaar in America. She was born to a family down south in India as a second daughter in an already aggrieved family. She grows up and soon finds that she has the power to know unknown. So, she can predict a flood before it really strikes the villages. She can tell the place where one can find his lost treasure. And, soon her fame spreads among the people belonging to all walks of life.

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But before this newly attained fame could change fortunes of her family, she fails to predict her fate. A group of bandits attacks her home and after killing her parents she is taken away. Tilo runs away and reaches a place where an old woman (Johra Sehgal) runs her own kind of classes. She teaches secrets of spices to a small group of girls. Tilo learns the magic of medicinal values of spices and grows up as their mistress. Cut to modern day America. She is curing all kinds of people around her. But, now as a fully-grown up woman she has her wishes too. But she is taught that if she tries to touch another human skin, all her magical powers would vanish. She is in love with Doug (Dylan McDermott) and wants to be with him but spices prevent her. She has to choose between the love of life and her duty.

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'The Mistress Of Spices' is a film that showcases Aishwarya Rai in a totally different role. She has never attempted such kind of trauma on screen, though people have seen her as Nandini in 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' dwindling in between her lover and her husband. The equation put before her in 'The Mistress Of Spices' is unique though. Aishwarya tries to do full justice to the role. She has to portray different shades in one role. She has to play an advisor, a friend, a lover and a disciple - all at one time. Has the screenplay been a bit crisper with some added mystic value to it; it could have been a bright film for Aishwarya.

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But, director Paul Mayeda Berges tries to move on a linear track. He forgets that even in west, people like drama more than documentation of values and heritage. And, it is he who makes Aishwarya fail! Berges had a brilliant idea to make an international film and an equally brilliant cast too. The film has brilliant photography by none other than Santosh Sivan. He captures the scenic beauty of South India and America alike. Alex Rodriguez does wonders in editing as fuses different emotions in different scenes with ease. Amanda's art direction is good and Aishwarys looks so near to real.

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Many talented actors support 'The Mistress of Spice'. Yon can see Anupam Kher playing a worried Dadaji whose only problem is that her granddaughter (Padma Lakshmi) does not listen to him. Nitin Chandra does a wonderful cameo as Harun who has come to America from Kashmir to earn livelihood . Ayesha Dharkar as Hameeda is effective too. And, full marks go to Dylan as well. He does look a smart guy who can be a match only to a beauty like Aishwarya. But, the problem remains that 'The Mistress Of Spice' lacks the main ingredient of recipe, a crisp screenplay with lots of drama unfolding. On the whole, 'The Mistress Of Spices' will find it hard to get a supporting audience even in multiplexes.