Friday, August 18, 2006

That Spice Girl

Knowing my addiction to that lovely precious item called sleep, is it any wonder that I've been missing out on my semi-regular movie nights? Been more than two weeks since I caught my last screening and for me, that's quite a remarkable feat. Although I do have a regular movie buff / partner nowadays, Charming Calvin usually works pretty late... ( what is it with me and guys who work late? ) so we usually end up taking meals together while giving that movie a miss. Don't actually miss a thing though since Calvin provides enough sugar to keep my mind off the latest movie reviews.

:) Sorry for the uncharacteristically sappy thought but when you're writing your blog from your man's computer ( seriously chockful of techie goodies - not gay porn unfortunately! ), his image does come to mind after all. Here's hoping I managed to strike the proper note between sickly saccharine sweet and bitter(gourd)ly repressed.

Made the time for a movie date tonight since one of the books I once loved had the dubious honour of being turned into a movie - and poor Calvin has been moaning forever that the last movie he saw was in black-and-white Greta Garbo. Methinks he just wants some time with me in the dark secluded confines of the cinema - though the man doth protest so sweetly:P

Chitra Divarakuni brings us the tale of an Indian spice mistress who brings her mystical medicinal skills to a new world only to face dire consequences when despite her monastical vow to remain coolly distanced from her patrons, she falls for one of them. Very few written novels translate well onto the movie screen - this isn't one of them unfortunately. Although the Mistress of Spices certainly had all the cumin, coriander and chillies it needed to spark a veritable inferno, sadly it couldn't lend enough fire to spice up the relationship between the protagonist and her paramour.

Ever the luminous Bollywood icon of beauty, Aishwarya Rai certainly lit up the screen with her presence but her east-meets-west combination with the usually fiery McDermott lacked that special zing that would made the entire movie worthwhile. Even the exotic spices in their myriad colours and textures - which played quite a role in this sometimes overly fantastical tale - shared more of a connection with their mistress.

John Abraham!
Bollywood hunk... with spice

Perhaps one of her sexy Indian compatriots - such as our John Abraham here - would have been a better match in providing the proper ingredients to steam up the screen.

Still it was worth while catching just a small vignette of homosexual love flourishing amongst the spices in San Francisco.

15 comments:

Sue said...

I read the "Mistress of Spices" and loved it, along with others of Chitra's books. Have they made a movie of it and what is it called?

Anonymous said...

i've seen previews for this movie. it's almost like sarah michelle gellar's "simply irresistable" or penelope cruz' "woman on top". btw, that bollywood hottie is smokin hot! i think i just wet myself.

Xavier said...

saucy hunk!

gonna catch the movie soon!

Anonymous said...

Drools... He's got a HAWT bod. #Jemima's battling her eyelashes & wiping her mouth non-stop#

Matt. K. said...

Wow, I might just catch the movie myself, seeing that it didn't really get alot of publicity in the first place. Never knew it was from a book. Interesting...

Anonymous said...

I've never watched bollywood movies before but the one with the hero in a funny costume in NYC does seem very interesting to watch. I'd lower that hand more if I were that lady by the way.

Gay boy comes to London said...

I love Indian movies. Although over the past few years they've started to become so Western-ized. The outfits keeps getting smaller and smaller.

Bryan Anthony the First said...

i was never a fan of the boys form the subcontinent

but hey... i can chage my mind, can't i?

NeiLDC said...

wow, whats all in that spices that every one loves it, Do they have the Aprodisiacs as they called.. Hriktik Roshan was another bollywood hottest icon.. wouldn t you think?...

That Girl said...

OOOOOOOOOOH an INDIAN guy featured on your blog!!

*happy smile *...I HEART INDIA!

our Indian guys are some of the best looking!!! you should see some more of them...a lot of the Bollywood actors are really goodlooking.

nyonyapenang said...

wuuah, too spicy to handle.

Dave said...

Aishwarya Rai is beautiful, but somehow her talents are wasted in Mistress of Spices.

Nevertheless, it is worth reading Mistress of Spices.

savante said...

Yeah they have and it's the same name. Go watch it, sue.

Woman on Top was marginally better - but different, callen.

Xavier...The hunk on my blog isn't in the movie, you know. So no drooling, jemima :)

Worth a look but not the best movie, matt.

shigeki, trying to imagine a bollywood movie in tokyo.. what a mesh of cultures that would be!

Had the same first impression I had, sevensoft.

True gay boy :) Smaller and smaller is right.. and way more scandalous!

Definitely worth looking, right, bryan?

Yeah, neil. That's a heartthrob too.. couldn't find a nice pic to put here tho.

Knew you'd like it, grafxgurl :)

Hey, you're married, nyonya!

True, she should have done better.. sigh, dave.

Paul

S said...

The film version of Mistress of Spices is really bland.

William said...

I can't stomach Bollywood movies. Perhaps it's the long dance sequences and sappy plot. But I do fondly remember one movie from my childhood-- Nagina. Sri Devi as the beautiful serpentine, shape-shifting wife. Had enough mystical elements and catchy snake-charming music to keep me glued to the set. ;P. Think of the spoof scene found in Bride and Prejudice.