Cotton Mary

Cotton Mary is a 1999 film co-directed by Ismail Merchant, best known as the producer half of Merchant Ivory, and the Indian actress and writer Madhur Jaffrey, who also co-starred. It is a sensual film, shot in coastal South India.

Cotton Mary
Directed by	Ismail Merchant Madhur Jaffrey (co-director)
Written by	Alexandra Viets
Produced by	Nayeem Hafizka Richard Hawley Paul Bradley (executive) Gil Donaldson (associate)
Starring	Greta Scacchi Madhur Jaffrey James Wilby Neena Gupta Sarah Badel Joanna David Sakina Jaffrey Gemma Jones Nadira Prayag Raj Surekha Sikri Laura Lumley
Cinematography	Pierre Lhomme
Edited by	John David Allen
Music by	Richard Robbins
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	17 December 1999 (1999-12-17) (UK)
Running time	124 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom France
Language	English

Plot

Lily Macintosh (Scacchi), an upper-class British woman living in India, has struggled since the birth of her child and is in need of a nanny. An Indian military nurse known as Cotton Mary (Jaffrey) takes the post; she is an ambitious woman who is eager to be part of British society. She seems kind at first, but her true nature gradually reveals itself as she manipulates everyone around her to get what she wants.

Cast

• Greta Scacchi as Lily MacIntosh
• Madhur Jaffrey as Mary "Cotton Mary"
• James Wilby as John MacIntosh
• Sarah Badel as Mrs. Evans
• Riju Bajaj as "Mugs"
• Gerson da Cunha as Dr. Correa
• Joanna David as Mrs Smythe
• Neena Gupta as Blossom, Mary's Sister
• Sakina Jaffrey as Rosie
• Gemma Jones as Mrs. Freda Davids
• Firdausi Jussawalla as Mr. Panamal
• Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal as Matron
• Nadira as Mattie
• Prayag Raaj as Abraham
• Captain Raju as Inspector Ramiji Raj
• Shobha Vijay as Ayah
• Virendra Saxena as Joseph
• Surekha Sikri as Gwen
• Laura Lumley as Theresa MacIntosh
• Matteo Piero Mantegazza as Baba
• Olivia Caesar as Baba
• Arshia Rafique as Mira
• Philip Tabor as Henry Campbell-Jones
• Luke Jones as Charlie
• Susan Malick as Bunny Rogers
• Hamza as Fisherman
• Poornima Mohan as Receptionist
• Txuku Iriarte Solana as Sylvie D'Costa
• Kukku Parameswaran as Nurse

Reception

On Metacritic the film has a score of 52% based on reviews from 18 critics.^[1] On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 36% based on reviews from 33 critics.^[2]

Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars.^[3]