Aishwarya's role in 'Mistress...' is one of her finest: Berges

Mumbai, April 30 (IANS) Filmmaker Paul Berges feels Aishwarya Rai's performance in his "Mistress of Spices" is one of her finest and the film will do well in India.

Berges, husband of British director Gurinder Chadha, said: "In 'Mistress...' Ash gives a very understated performance which is unlike anything I've ever seen her do. I think it's one of her finest roles and people who have been seeing the film agree."

"Mistress...", after its release in Britain and India, would be released internationally, he said.

"It has its own unique style which is a fusion of immigrant's tale, sexy romance and magic realist fable. So I hope people get a chance to discover something which is culturally familiar, but stylistically different," Berges told IANS in a chat.

Berges, who has written the script for his wife's "Bend It Like Beckham", said in "Mistress...", which released in India Friday, Aishwarya has great chemistry with Dylan McDermott. "From the moment they started rehearsing I could see that their intensity together would be sizzling on screen," he said.

Excerpts from the interview:

What are your release plans?

I'm very excited. The responses from audiences have been fantastic at the previews. Entertainment Film released the film nationwide in Britain. They're a great distributor who have released films as diverse as "Lord Of The Rings", "Brokeback Mountain", "Hotel Rwanda". In India the release is through PVR who are really behind the film. We've sold the rights in the US to the Weinstein Company so it'll be nice to work again with Harvey Weinstein. After Britain and India the film will branch out internationally and I'm thrilled that we've sold the film all over the world.

"Mistress ..." is a more intimate, sensual film than our previous comedies. It has its own unique style that is a fusion of immigrant's tale, sexy romance, and magic realist fable. So I hope people get a chance to discover something which is culturally familiar, but stylistically different.

Ash will soon be seen in yet another Indian role in an international film "Provoked". Does that film look tempting to you?

I haven't seen "Provoked" yet. But I know about the real-life case in England it's based on. I think it's great that Ash is interested in taking on challenging roles which will inspire her to present different sides of herself as an actress. I'm biased as the director, but in "Mistress.." Ash gives a very understated performance which is unlike anything I've ever seen her do. I think it's one of her finest roles and people who have been seeing the film agree.

After "Bride & Prejudice" do you think your film will build on Ash's reputation as an international star?

I hope that Ash and other actors in India get to make smart, entertaining films in India and also get to do different films internationally because it can only give them richer experiences to draw from as actors. When we showed "Mistress.. ." at the Toronto Film Festival people were saying wow we knew Ash was incredibly stunning, but she can also show depth as an actress if given a juicy role to sink her teeth in.

Internationally many people appreciated Ash in "Bride & Prejudice" but because it was a musical which blended Hindi film and Hollywood traditions it was an unfamiliar film language for many non-Indians. They could look at Ash and see her as someone outside their experience. In "Mistress..." because it's set in a very diverse San Francisco and her performance is understated, it shows a different side to what she can do. Also I think Ash has great chemistry with Dylan McDermott, who is hugely popular in the States from his TV show "The Practice". From the moment they started rehearsing I could see that their intensity together would be sizzling on screen.

Tell me a bit about the rest of the "Mistress..." cast.

It's always great to work with a truly international cast because each actor brings their own experiences to the film and it feeds all the other actors. In "Mistress...", Nitin Ganatra - who was Mr. Kohli in "Bride & Prejudice" - plays a Kashmiri cab driver. Anupam Kher plays a Bengali grandfather who fears he's losing his granddaughter, Padma Lakshmi, to America. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje plays an African American martial arts teacher looking for love (he will next be seen in the new series of "Lost"). Zohra Seghal, who's 94 years old and still as energetic and cheeky as ever, plays the First Mother who teaches the young girls about the spices. Ayesha Dharker, whom I always loved in Santosh Sivan's "Terrorist" (one of my favourite films), plays a young newcomer to the Bay Area.

It really was a dream cast to work with. We had a blast when we were all shooting on the Isle of Man because at night we would all go to the only nightclub on the island and take over the dance floor. The local DJ only had one bhangra track to play so he would keep playing it all night long. Ash had a great laugh dancing with everyone. She didn't want to leave the dance floor! I also sang "Mere Sapano Ki Rani" to her and the crew which she thought was hilarious!

Ash said the film was beautiful, magical and made her smile. Also Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, the novelist, said some lovely things about the film at the Toronto Film Festival.

What are you making next? Have you and Gurinder worked out a mutually time-effective scheme for filmmaking?

Gurinder and I are always writing new scripts - sometimes together, sometimes with other writers. There are just too many stories that we're excited about telling - some set in Britain in the spirit of "Bend It Like Beckham", some in India and others in Hollywood. I'm deciding now what I want to direct next while Gurinder is readying "Dallas".

Are you aware that you would be accused of selling Indian exotica to the West?

That's not the case at all. "Mistress..." is about keeping traditions alive and the way that cultures influence each other. India's relationship with the rest of the world has moved far beyond exotica and I truly hope that people stop thinking in such terms. The films that Gurinder and I have made always view culture in terms of possibilities, never as exotica or as a problem. That's one of the things that drew me to "Mistress..". The film is essentially saying that we all have traditions that we value and we all have very similar desires. If we remember how similar we actually are then we'll never see someone as 'exotic' or 'other' again.

So how exotic is "Mistress..."?

I hate the word 'exotic'. I wanted the film to be sensual, soulful and romantic, never exotic. Because it's a fable it has a very different look that Santosh Sivan, the masterful cinematographer, and I spent a lot of time creating. We wanted to bring the spices alive as characters because in the film spices represent tradition.

Final trivial question... your film is about the aroma and spice of life. How spicy is your life? Do you cook? Do you like Indian food?

I feel very lucky because my life is extremely spicy! One of the reasons I love being able to make films in Britain, India and the States is because I get to eat all of my favourite foods in each country. I dream about eating pau bhaji in Mumbai when I'm away! I'm not a great cook but I'm an enthusiastic learner and helper. Fortunately Gurinder is a great chef and my saas (Gurinder's mum) is the true mistress of spices. Her cooking is adored by family members and friends all over the world and I especially love her aloo varian and aloo gobi.

For "The Mistress Of Spices", Gurinder and her mum made all the pickles in the spice store so every time I see a big jar of achar in the film it makes me smile.

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Mistress of Spices