India Sweets and Spices

Play trailer

2:18

India Sweets and Spices

PG-13

2021

1h 41m

Comedy

Drama

Romance

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

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.

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.

Read Critics Reviews

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

12/04/2022

3/5

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

Go to Full Review

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.

Go to Full Review

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...

Go to Full Review

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.

Go to Full Review

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

Go to Full Review

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.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

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

See more

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!

See more

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.

See more

EA

11/24/2021

Lighthearted and entertaining.

See more

Talat K

11/24/2021

Total waste of time and money!!

See more

Susan B

11/23/2021

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

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Geeta Malik

Director

Sophia Ali

Alia Kapur

Manisha Koirala

Sheila Kapur

Adil Hussain

Ranjit Kapur

Rish Shah

Varun Dutta

Deepti Gupta

Bhairavi Dutta

Life of the Party

38%

40%

Life of the Party

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Life of the Party

Cruella

75%

97%

Cruella

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Cruella

About My Father

37%

81%

About My Father

Watchlist

TRAILER

for About My Father

Poms

36%

72%

Poms

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Poms

The Moon and Back

80%

69%

The Moon and Back

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

India Sweets and Spices: Featurette - Inside Look

0:58

India Sweets and Spices: Trailer 1

2:18

View more videos

View more photos

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