That same year, Rai took on the lead role of Tilo in Paul Mayeda Berges's romantic fantasy film "The Mistress of Spices", an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. The film received negative reviews from film critics and emerged as a commercial failure. Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" termed Rai's performance as "annoying" and wrote that she "wafts and simpers" through the entire film. Rai's only successful venture of 2005 was a special appearance in Shaad Ali's comedy "Bunty Aur Babli", in which she featured in the popular item number "Kajra Re".