Daawat-E-Ishq, Hindi Bollywood Film Movie review, Johnson Thomas Rating: * * * 1/2

Daawat-E-Ishq, Hindi Bollywood Film Movie review, Johnson Thomas Rating: *  *  * 1/2
   
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#DaawatEIshq(hindi) Rating: *  *  * ½ Pitch Perfect romance touching Foodie heights with a strong message thrown in. #HabibFaisal excels in creating an immensely delightful menu with Aditya Roy Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra and Anupam Kher providing strong garnish and flavor. A perfect recipe for success if ever! #AdityaChopra #YashRajFilms #SpicePR #ParineetiChopra #AdityaRoyKapoor #AnupamKher #HabibFaisal





Hindi Film Review
Johnson Thomas

The Perfect Recipe for Love

Film: Daawat-E-Ishq
Cast: Parineeti Chopra, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Karan Wahi
Director: Habib Faisal

Rating: *  *  * ½


A movie that focuses on food to do the trick for love is a rare commodity in formulaic mainstream  Bollywood. So when Yashraj Films and Habib Faisal announced this Parineeti-Aditya starrer, many an appetite was whetted. The film looked promising and sustained promotions added much Spice to the foodie bouquet.

The eventual product- ‘Daawat-E-Ishq’ manages to live up to most expectations of the gastronomic kind as well as the cinematic one.
It’s a well-timed, vibrantly acted, intelligently plotted  saliva inducing entertainer and has the music to add soul to the garnish. A well educated Hyderabadi,Gulrays Qadir(Parineeti), a shoe saleswoman, is quite fed-up with the kind of offers she was getting in the guise of marriage proposals- everyone of them demanding more dowry than what her father, a court clerk, could afford.  The timely coverage of the Raja-Radha Reddy 498A dowry harassment judgement going in favor of the wife decides her future progrom.

Persuading her ‘phattu(petrified)’ father takes time but eventually she manages to convince him into playing a role for their lifelong betterment in the USA. So it’s now over to Sania Habibullah and her father who take up a suite in a 5 star hotel, announce Sania’s eligibility loudly to the who’s who of Lucknow who predictably queue up outside their hotel room door in droves. Among them is Haider who owns and manages a flourishing restaurant in the centre of the city. He obviously appears to be the most appetizing bali-ka-bakra(victim) with loads of cash and willingness to demand a sizeable dowry. The father-daughter con duo zero in on him and his family for them to pull off the scam that will fuel their trip to Utopia. Of course complications arise thereafter…


The manner in which Habib Faisal fashions his narrative, there’s no room for any slackening of the excitement. The steady build-up of strong engaging moments and gradual awakening of the romance heightens the enjoyment. With delicious food playing an integral role here, there’s plenty of spice in this cinematic culinary treat. The script is well structured and the dialogues are pretty much befitting to the milieu and the tale. Even the accents are economically rendered. The real magic comes from the perfect mixing of the rich and varied ingredients. The music is tarriffic to say the least and the performances perfectly primed. Parineeti Chopra effervescent charm and chutzpah make Gulrays imminently believable while Aditya Roy Kappor’s sanguine likeableness provides an amiable buffer for the heightening of the excitement. Add to that Anupam Kher’s harried to gamey father and the romantic broth gets all the more appealing. The enticement of a strong social message against dowry harassment , done with subtlety and candor makes the enticement richer. The eventual experience is therefore  strong on aromas, rich to taste! Go get a stomach full..
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The Hundred foot journey, English Hollywood Food based Movie Review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: * * * 1/2

The Hundred foot journey, English Hollywood Food based Movie Review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: *  *  * 1/2 

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#TheHundredFootJourney(English) Rating: * * * ½ This cultural gastronomedy is passionate about it’s main ingredient- the culinary talents of it’s subjects but not as enamored by the people inhabiting it’s frame. Deliciously enticing though the visuals may be, it does leave you hungry at the end of it- wishing that it could have been a more ‘meaningful’ journey instead of merely ‘Food’ heavy!  #HelenMirren #LasseHallstrom #OmPuri #ManishDayal #CharlotteLeBon #WaltDisneyStudiosMotionPictures #DreamWorksPictures #RelianceEntertainment #ParticipantMedia  #ImageNation #AmblinEntertainment #HarpoFilms #StevenSpielberg #OprahWinfrey #JulietBlake. #AllianceFrancaise

English Film Review

Johnson Thomas 

A delicacy worth savoring!

Film:The Hundred Foot Journey

Cast: Helen Mirren, Manish Dayal,Om Puri,Charlotte Le Bon,Juhi Chawla

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Rating: * * * ½

This culture clashing gastronomic comedy based on the best selling novel by Richard C Morais has been produced by Hollywood’s biggest names, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and Juliet Blake and directed by celebrated director Lasse Hallstrom (Chocolat, The Cider House Rules, The Shipping News), starring Oscar winner Helen Mirren and internationally renowned Om Puri. So the stakes are high and the expectations even more so.

One thing you can say about Director Lasse Hallstrom’s efforts in cinema is that his art is always strong on sensory appeal. That’s true of this film too. Food plays a major role here as it is the main catalyst for the culture clash that takes place between two restaurant owners, one- Madame Mallory(Mirren) who runs the one Michelin star awarded  elegant, expensive and inimitably French ‘Le Saul Pleureur(The Weeping Willow)’   and the other, being set-up by the riot hit refugees from India, the Kadam family led by the widowed father(Om Puri) and his children, one of whom is a talented Cook, Hassan(Manish Dayal). The initial skirmishes between the two leads to sabotage and eventually the two arrive at an understanding. By then the Kadam family’s cook turns cordon bleu and jumps at the offer to work in Paris leaving behind a love interest, a sous chef, Margeurite(Charlotte Le Bon) and a disappointed father.

The laughs are scored consistently what with all the underhand attacks being made on each other.  She’s the Mistress of Gallic understatement, stubborn, hoity-toity and biting in her repartee while he is easy going, jovial and optimistic. Their diametrically opposite personalities make for interesting clashes.  The writing is fluent but not fleshed out enough, though. It’s not very clear how the Kadam family fares financially after their star chef’s desertion and neither do we get to know the real financial implications of setting up a restaurant in a remote region(Shot on 35mm in luminous, mostly  in the Midi-Pyrenees) several hundred kilometers away from Paris. Everything comes a little too easy here. Kadam sets his eyes on the broken down place by accident but is  quick to fancy it as a suitable place to set up his dream restaurant. He also has no problem coughing up the dough for it. His kids , of course, think otherwise.

Helen Mirren and Om Puri set the ball rolling with their sparks and Manish Dayal and Charlotte le Bon bring on the romance. A mellow score by A.R. Rahman,  the bucolic unadulterated beauty of the village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, irresistible world of culinary sophistication, Bastille Day fireworks, gorgeous nighttime views of Paris, production design by David Gropman also add teeth to the engagement.

But what entices the most is the manner in which the food is displayed and served – the tempting visual buffet cinematographed so sensuously by Linus (American Hustle)Sandgren. Therein lies the film’s mainstay. While the drama between the two cultures and their style of cooking is interesting enough, it doesn’t get you as excited as the food with all it’s east-west variants, deliberately designed to envelope you in it’s sensory appeal. The tension in the film surrounds the two main leads and their accomplished theatrics but the rest is just a little too soft and tasty yes, but not really all exciting!

 

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Director Lassee Hallström brings audiences as close to the amazing food featured on screen as he can without letting you taste it yourself...

      

Food mentioned in the film- Indian and French cuisine served at Maison Mumbai and Le Saul Pleureur

    

 mouthwatering béchamel sauce , tandoori goat, fluffy omelette, mushrooms, steaming red curry ,  perfectly plated pigeon with truffles. Foie Grass, Beef bourguignon, delicious vindaloos,Biryani,chicken tandoori

 

    

Chef, English Hollywood film Movie review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: * * * 12

Chef, English Hollywood film Movie review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: *  *  * 12

   

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English Film review

Johnson Thomas

Drool worthy Culinary Delight!

Film: Chef

Cast: Jon Favreau, Scarlett Johanssen, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizama, Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman  

Director: Jon Favreau

Rating: *  *  * ½      

  

A tasty treat, this Jon Favreau creation has all the ingredients to make for a gastronomical success at the turnstiles. His delectable scripting/direction not only manages to stimulate your appetite but also stirs up plenty of drool worthy moments in the dramatic byplay between the protagonist, his ex-wife and young son.

Favreau casts himself as the lead character, a gruff , roly-poly high-end Los Angeles restaurant Chef, Carl Casper whose job goes on the line when a popular blogger food critic Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) decides to come and try out his restaurant fare. Casper’s boss, restaurant owner(Dustin Hoffman) wants him to stick with the regular menu while Casper himself wants to set out an all new menu for the critic to savor. The Boss wins the first round but fails the critical test. The critic’s views go viral and Casper becomes a laughing stalk.  Casper requests his young son’s help for tweeting a response and in the process throws down the gauntlet for a second round confrontation. But with his Boss still sticking to his guns, Casper has no recourse but to leave and depend on his ex-wife Inez (Sofia Vergara)’s ex-husband/lover (Robert Downey Jr.) to bankroll him for a run down second-hand Food truck. Casper then takes us on a tour viz. a road trip  that begins in Los Angeles, relocates to Miami, then returns to the West Coast by way of tasty stopovers in New Orleans and Austin, Tex. Suffice to say, close on the heels of a sell-out tour,  Casper’s astounding culinary talents wins vindication and his career sees a great new high.

It’s the typical American story in the age of social networks where anyone can rise, fall and rise again, given the opportunity and with some concerted efforts. The ADHDness of a whole new generation is of course the catalyst. A sentimental subplot involves Carl’s relationship with his partly estranged 10-year-old son, Percy (Emjay Anthony), who becomes his social media tutor. Casper is unable to connect with his son at first and then when forced to take him along,  finds a meeting ground in his own abilities and work ethic and from therein develops a bond that strengthens as the narrative moves along.

Favreau’s treatment harkens back to his earlier ‘indie’ creations like ‘Swingers’ and ‘Made,’  even though this one(unlike his earlier creations) is stuffed to the gills with shiny star bright ingredients like Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johanssen, Sofia Vergara and John Leguizamo. Add to that a sparkling moderately funny screenplay, well rounded and likeable characters, witty dialogues and tasty performances and you are served up  a delicatessen comedy that’s lip-smackingly delicious in tone and tenor- as buoyed by a spiced-up soundtrack that mixes salsa, soul music and country blues with Carribean flavor. Director of photography, Kramer Morgenthau makes food and scenery look delicious, the editing by Robert Leighton keeps the tempo and momentum brisk while the  production design by Denise Pizzini adds a certain richness to the servings.The overall experience is much like a light-weight soufflé, not exactly deep enough to cater to your hunger pangs, yet delicious enough to whet your appetite! Bon Appétit, this one’s a must see!

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