Toronto
(ANI):
Indian
film
actress
Seema
Biswas,
who
is
vastly
known
for
the
serious
roles
she
plays
in
movies,
has
made
her
first
filmic
foray
into
comedy
with
Cooking
with
Stella,
which
was
written
by
Dilip
Mehta
and
his
sister
Deepa.
It
was
made
about
a
year
ago,
and
it
is
set
in
New
Delhi,
primarily
in
and
around
the
compound
of
the
Canadian
High
Commission.
For
Biswas,
45,
from
Assam,
the
movie
is
a
groundbreaker,
as
it
is
the
first
comedy
she
has
made
out
of
theatre,
and
speaking
at
the
Toronto
International
Film
Festival
last
fall,
she
acknowledged
that
it
was
a
challenge
for
her.
"So,
for
me,
it
was
a
big
responsibility
to
do
it," the
Globe
and
Mail
quoted
her
as
saying
during
the
premiere
of
Cooking
with
Stella.
"I
didn't
want
it
to
be
a
shock
for
them.
You
know:
''Oh
my
God,
it's
the
wrong
casting'',"
she
said.
But
there
was
never
any
doubt
in
director/co-screenwriter
Dilip
Mehta's
mind.
"Seema
was
my
first
and
my
last
choice
to
play
the
title
character,"
he
said.
"There
was
no
audition.
She
is
so
versatile,
I
just
have
this
implicit
faith
in
her.
I
mean,
I
didn't
know
if
she
had
the
timing
you
need
for
comedy
--
but
once
we
got
going,
she
was
way
beyond
what
I
ever
hoped
for,"
he
stated.
The
movie's
story
is
about
Stella
Elizabeth
Matthews,
who's
been
the
chief
cook
and
major
domo
at
one
of
the
diplomatic
residences
in
the
Canadian
High
Commission
for
30
years.
A
devout
Christian,
Stella
initially
seems
the
essence
of
deference
and
rectitude
when
a
new
Canadian
couple
(Lisa
Ray,
Don
McKellar)
and
their
baby
move
into
the
home.
But
the
viewer
quickly
realizes
she
has
a
cunning
side:
To
pad
her
modest
salary,
she
discreetly
pilfers
items
and
occasionally
overcharges
while
simultaneously
running
a
phone-order
"duty-free"
business
selling
detergent,
booze,
food
and
the
like
from
the
commission
pantry.
This
profitable
arrangement
threatens
to
unravel
when
the
couple
-
Ray
is,
in
fact,
the
diplomat,
McKellar
the
stay-at-home
husband
and
chef
eager
to
discover
"the
real
India"
by
enlisting
Stella
as
his
"cooking
guru"
-
decides
to
hire
a
seemingly
straight-arrow
nanny
(Shreya
Saran)
who
eventually
gets
wise
to
Stella's
subterfuge.