India Sweets and Spices

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2:18

India Sweets and Spices

PG-13

2021

1h 41m

Comedy

Drama

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Verified Ratings

Alia Kapur (Sophia Ali) returns to her family's posh suburban New Jersey home after a year away at college and upends their well-ordered life with her brash independence. After befriending Varun (Rish Shah), the handsome son of the new owners of the local Indian grocery, she invites his family to a dinner party where family secrets are revealed. Alia's surprise turns to rebellion when she uncovers secrets about both her parents that push her toward a daring and ultimately hilarious confrontation. INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES celebrates a young woman's coming of age set against a lovingly framed glimpse of the life of an Indian American family.

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Critics Consensus

Often offering both halves of its titular flavor profiles with equal aplomb, India Sweets and Spices is a slightly uneven but uniquely savory rom-com.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

12/04/2022

3/5

India Sweets and Spices is peppy, energetic and unapologetically broad in its comic approach.

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Cath Clarke

Guardian

11/29/2022

3/5

The impossibility of ever really knowing our parents is a familiar storyline, but it’s told here with real generosity and warmth. Malik slyly pokes fun, but never meanly.

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Stephen Romei

The Australian

02/17/2022

3.5/5

What follows makes this movie more complex that its rom-com set up, which has Alia returning home for the summer break, being pursued by a handsome, wealthy young man who will have a real elephant...

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Ruth Maramis

FlixChatter Film Blog

02/14/2023

3.5/5

Headlined by the spirited Sophia Ali, this vibrant romance/family drama has a lively pacing. There are unexpected twists thrown in that made this one quite memorable.

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Jane Freebury

The Canberra Times (Australia)

02/21/2022

Sweet central performances can't outweight the social satire laid on thick and the gaudy aesthetic in this inside job on some questionable expat community values

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Jim Schembri

jimschembri.com

02/04/2022

3/5

Its ham-fisted, for sure, and some of the story points are clumsily handled...Still, its hard not to warm to the films well-packaged progressive sentiments, especially when blessed with such a winning lead performance.

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Kishore C Desai

12/20/2021

It was misleading. Expected a Bollywood movie in Hindi Language, but it turned out to be a low budget Hollywood movie in English

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Peter P

11/28/2021

All actors played their parts well, and their comedic timing was excellent. I felt the movie was excellent, and well worth seeing!

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Shri R

11/28/2021

It's a very skewed depiction of Indian culture viewed through a tubular western lens. The reality among Indian families is much different. At the end of the day, Parents take care of their friend's kids as their own.

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EA

11/24/2021

Lighthearted and entertaining.

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Talat K

11/24/2021

Total waste of time and money!!

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Susan B

11/23/2021

Understated and thought provoking. Also the actor who plays Varun is hot.

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Geeta Malik

Director

Sophia Ali

Alia Kapur

Manisha Koirala

Sheila Kapur

Adil Hussain

Ranjit Kapur

Rish Shah

Varun Dutta

Deepti Gupta

Bhairavi Dutta

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India Sweets and Spices: Featurette - Inside Look

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India Sweets and Spices: Trailer 1

2:18

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Synopsis

Alia Kapur (Sophia Ali) returns to her family's posh suburban New Jersey home after a year away at college and upends their well-ordered life with her brash independence. After befriending Varun (Rish Shah), the handsome son of the new owners of the local Indian grocery, she invites his family to a dinner party where family secrets are revealed. Alia's surprise turns to rebellion when she uncovers secrets about both her parents that push her toward a daring and ultimately hilarious confrontation. INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES celebrates a young woman's coming of age set against a lovingly framed glimpse of the life of an Indian American family.

Director: Geeta Malik
Producer: Naomi Despres, John Penotti, Gigi Pritzker, Sidney Kimmel
Screenwriter: Geeta Malik
Distributor: Bleecker Street
Production Co: Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Some Strong Language|Sexual Material|Brief Drug References)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 19, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 7, 2021
Box Office (Gross USA): $288.6K
Runtime: 1h 41m