Indian immigrant movies all seem to have the same elements:
1. A son or daughter who has lost cultural identity;
2. His or her mother's relentless search for a spouse for him/her;
3. Food.
'Today's Special' has a light, warm, and charming masala of all these ingredients. There are no surprises here if you've already seen an expatriate Indian film before. Some are very dramatic, some are farcical. This film is more a light romantic comedic search taken by a young man, Samir (Aasif Mandvi)-- in his career (to take him to the next level from sous chef to imaginative, risk taking master chef); in his family life (from disappointing son to save-the-farm hero); in love (not that there's anything wrong with Indian girls, but ....). Samir is a likeable enough character whose journey is fraught with frustrations and disappointments until he hooks up with magical cab driver/adventurer/chef Akbar (Naseeruddin Shah) who teaches him to throw away the recipes (and health codes) and cook with the head, heart and stomach, and live the same way. There are lots of beauty shots of Indian cuisine to whet one's appetite.
Today's Special
Director: David Kaplan
Writer: Aasif Mandvi Jonathan Bines
inspired bythe play Sakina's Restaurant by Aasif Mandvi
Cast: Aasif Mandvi, Jess Weixler, Madhus Jaffrey, Harish Patel, Naseeruddin Shah, Kevin Corrigan, Dean Winters
Time: 99 min.
Opens November 19 in the Bridge in San Francisco.
Comments