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 newfound independence. Befriending Varun (Rish Shah), the handsome son of the new owners of the local Indian grocery, she invites his family to a weekly dinner gathering with her parents’ wealthy friends. She is shocked to learn that her perfectionist mother Sheila (Manisha Koirala) has a previous connection to Varun’s mother Bhairavi (Deepti Gupta). Alia’s surprise turns to indignation when she uncovers secrets about both her parents that push her toward a daring and transformative 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.
Geeta Malik is an award-winning writer and director whose accolades include the inaugural Academy Gold Fellowship for Women, the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, and the Austin Film Festival Comedy Screenplay Award for her feature script, DINNER WITH FRIENDS (retitled to INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES).
Geeta is a Film Independent Project Involve Fellow and an alumna of UCLA’s graduate film program. She wrote and directed the viral narrative short, AUNTY Gs, which earned a College Television Award (a “student Emmy”) in comedy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Her other short films include SHAMELESS, BEAST, and APU'S REVENGE. Her first feature film, TROUBLEMAKER, premiered at the 2011 Cinequest Film Festival.
In 2019, Geeta directed INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES, starring Manisha Koirala, Adil Hussain, and Sophia Ali. The film was produced by SK Global and Madison Wells Media, and premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES will be released theatrically by Bleecker Street on November 19th.
