Movie : Ustad Hotel
Banner: Magic Frames
Cast: Dulquar Salman, Thilakan, Siddiq, Mamukoya, Kunchan, Lena, Nithya Menon, Bhagat, Arun
Direction: Anwar Rasheed
Production: Listin Stephen
Music: Gopi Sunde
For all those who had watched and admired the visual waft in the short ‘The Bridge’ in ‘Kerala Caf�’, this may be the one that was eagerly awaited. And for others, this is definitely a breath of fresh air. A visual poetry about the home coming and associated realisations of a younger raised and educated abroad, this ‘Ustad Hotel’ from Anwar Rasheed is definitely a movie that is sure to become a milestone in Mollywood industry.
‘Ustad Hotel’ written by Anjali Menon plots the story like that of ‘Swades’, ‘Lakshya’, and ‘My Name is Sid’, but here we have Faizy Abdul Razaaq’s (Dulquer Salman), an immensely rich young and dynamic guy who is coming of age. An youngster who loved to live a peppy life in UK or France as an executive Chef with his foreign girl friend Christine, he splits up from his father Abdul Razaaq(Siddhique)who plans a Five Star Hotel business with his only son rather than allowing him to create his own recipes. Faizy returns to Calicut to find his grandfather Kareemikka (Thilakan) still making a living with his ‘Ustad Hotel’ in the beach of Calicut. In the course of time with his grandfather Faizy realises what serving food is all about. Moreover, Kareeemikka also gives him adept tutorial on how to develop as a good human being.
The movie has plenty of sequences that is wisely written and that will stay in your hearts for long. With the effective aid of Lokanathan behind camera, Anwar has carved poetry about human relations with subtle emotions and humour worked all around. Starting from the electric bulb that flashes in to light the board of ‘Ustad hotel’ to the song sequences where Kareemikka reveals the suspense of his first love……the movie packs in a lot that will create an admiration in the viewers.
Anwar easily manages with the best of the performances from his artists. And for those who doubted the potential of Dulqar, this is a show that makes you sure that he is here to stay. And now he may not need his dad’s address to sustain here. Thespian actor Thilakan once again proves his effectiveness and sheer brilliance in any hard hitting scenes and the camaraderie of grandfather and his grandson is the highlight of the movie, which is narrated without a single dose of much expected and cliched melodrama. Siddhique, Jayaprakash and charming Nithya Menon plays to the demands of their roles while Mamukkoya who narrates the entire film has a role that may be cherished for long.
The scripts by Anjali Menon are amazingly refreshing and interesting but in the second hour a few more sharp cuts by Editor Praveen Prabhakar would have avoided some unnecessary lags, though his multitude of montages establishing the ambiance of the beach side hotel and its dishes were scrumptious and pleasant . Art direction by Biju Chandran and costumes by Sameera Saneesh also deserves special mention. Gopi sunder, who impresses with all the songs which blends perfectly for the movie, has got another film to showcase his talents in BGM making, In fact altogether a rough forty minutes in the movie just builds on with his BG scores rather than dialogues.
A take on the dialogue of the movie about making ‘Sulaimani’, anyone can make a mass movie; but it can only be from the likes of Anwar Rasheed who can serve it with the rightest ingredients of love and precision that can move the hearts. No doubts here about that….. Definitely this USTAD HOTEL has got a very yummy, mouth watering menu that must be tasted at least once…