How Old Are You

For those who do not know about Manju Warrier or haven’t seen her movies, I will recommend to immediately do some googling. She is one of the finest actors of our times. Her movies never disappoint.

“How Old Are You” is a story of a UD Clerk, Nirupama Rajeev. Nirupama, is a woman going about her life nonchalantly. She is a mother of a fourteen-year-old daughter, living with her husband and in-laws. Life has no interests beyond the clerical job and taking care of the family. Aimless and dreamless, Nirupama exists.

The husband, Rajeev (Konchako Boban) is fed up of his wife whose sole preoccupation is what to cook for breakfast. He gets a chance to go to Ireland and applies for a visa making it abundantly clear that he will not be able take Nirupama, unless she gets herself a job. Unfortunately, Nirupama is unable to get one. Meanwhile, The President of India visits Kerala and Nirupama’s daughter gets a chance to ask him a question. The president is impressed wants to meet the person who taught her this, and that person turns out to be Nirupama. She is all set to meet the President for breakfast. Unfortunately, with all the hype, the meeting doesn’t go well and Nirupama becomes the laughing stock of social media.

Amongst all the chaos, Rajeev leaves with Lakshmi (the daughter) for Ireland, telling Nirupama that he doesn’t trust her upbringing.

Meanwhile, Nirupama’s college friend, Susan David manages to find he through all the social media hype and visits her. She reminds Nirupama of the dreamer that Nirupama was in college and encourages her to find that aspect of her life once again.

Nirupama has on organic terrace garden which gets noticed and she gets to supply organic vegetable for a 2000 people marriage. How she finds her determination and resolve and becomes an ideal for her daughter as well as the world, is the basic story of the movie.

Roshan Andrrews (also directed Udayananu Tharam) , the director of the movie has done a superb job in telling a tale of a woman caught in the social mores and the expectations of the world from her. A subtle and yet powerful depiction of how a woman can lose her self-respect and forget what she is capable of, because people around her treat her like a condiment. It’s not a lecture in feminism. It’s about a person believing in themselves to leave their mark on this world. The film also remains relatively fast paced and doesn’t succumb to melodrama or histrionics at any point.

And what a comeback movie for Manju Warrier. She has played the part to perfection. All kudos to her for not letting the film become a cliché.

A perfect watch for a slow weekday.

Do Watch.

Ustad Hotel

I have ignored this blog for a long time. Reasons both actual and imaginary had me convinced I didn’t have enough time to do this. Well, what to say, I miss this and there’s always time J

After my long hiatus, the first movie I saw was something I had been waiting to see for quite a while – “Ustad Hotel” starring Thilakan, Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen in the lead.

I haven’t really seen any other Indian movie about food, and I love all the English ones I have seen, from Chocolat to Chef, No reservations and even Woman on Top (with the long-lost Penelope Cruz). So naturally, I was quite excited to see Ustad Hotel. It’s a story of a young guy “Faizi” who wants to be a chef dishonouring his father’s long standing dream to see him do an MBA and run a five-star hotel in Dubai (Awww so many clichés in one sentence).

Born to Abdul Razzaq, who migrated to Dubai, leaving his pregnant wife with four daughters only to find out that the fifth child was a much-awaited boy (and they keep on coming, them clichés). The wife dies and the father brings the four girls to run his kitchen and to bring up the boy (aint that the only thing girls are born to do) to Dubai. Well the kid grows up and is only passionate about one thing in life “food”, so skilfully depicted in the film as he twirls the ladle, rolls the dough and flips some cutlets all while his loving sisters cut vegetables and give him soulful approving looks. And now, our hero has a choice of colleges and countries (UK or US) to choose for his MBA. Lo behold, he discovers a third country called Switzerland and dupes his father to go to a cookery school. Trust me, his father never saw the name of the school even while paying the college dues.

The prodigal son returns, to be informed that he is gonna get married off to finalize a business deal. Our naïve “swiss trained”, “job in London” chef goes on to meet the girl even while his firang girlfriend back in London is waiting to put a down payment on a London apartment. The girl (sensibly so) turns down the proposal on discovering, he is a chef or cook.

Father is mad, takes away his passport, uncle smuggles him back to India to his grandfather who owns the best Biryani restaurant aka hotel in Kozhikode. Grand pa wants to teach the kid humility or business or God knows what but makes him run around carrying rice sacks, cleaning tables, making deliveries etc. Finally, he gramps shows some pity and gets Faizi a job at the adjacent five-star hotel.

The story is now how he impresses the fusion food toting Paris chef, charms the staff at ustad hotel and rekindles the friendship with the same girl from Dubai his father wanted him to marry. It’s just gulf, we don’t need an explanation of how the girl turns up India and becomes a rock chic.

Anyways, Faizi turns around the hotel, saving it from the clutches of an evil banker and hotel tycoon.

And now, the final lesson awaits.

This swiss trained chef has learnt how to cook but now needs to learn why he cooks…dah. Gramps in a dramatic turn of events is in the hospital with a mild attack and sends Faizi to Madurai. There he meets up with another chef who was once with “Taj”. Now, he runs his own kitchen to feed the needy and the old. Just like that Faizi gets inspired and drops his plan for a job abroad, to manage and run the Ustad Hotel.

All's well that ends well.

I know, I know, I write reviews, not rant for the lack of any creativity is some movies I have seen recently.

But unfortunately for Ustad hotel, I saw it on the heels of Jolly LLB 2 (that’s a saga-esque rant for another day). For once, I was hoping Ustad Hotel will turn out to be a movie extolling the younger generation for believing their dreams and taking up their passions even those involving being a world class chef. But the scriptwriter, director, producer just couldn’t let that happen, could they?

There is a moral to be told. Some lesson to be learnt. Everything is not about money or being the best at what you do. Nah nah nah…unless you are saving the humanity, getting rid of hunger and (wait for it….) world peace….

Dulquer Salmaan, has no expression…movie begins and ends and I am not even sure I registered him. Had to google multiple times before figuring out who he is (and to my surprise he is in O Kadhal Kanmani). Nithya Mennon hardly had any screen time. Thilakan is the only one who did justice to his role. A man who has been there, done that and figured life. No wonder every time he looked soulful there was a trio of Sufi dancers in the background. Seriously, the director needs to know (Anwar Rasheed), the audience really doesn’t need to be spoon fed to that level. (This reminds me, I must write about La La Land)

So in short, movie begins with a promise, however clichéd, but fails miserable in the second half.

Don’t waste your time.

Do skip.

(On a separate note, if any Bollywood wallahs want to adapt this, with minor modifications, and a better cast, it can be an entertainer.)