Anwar Rasheed's 'Ustad Hotel' is a richly textured fable, the emotional power of which is bewitching. Engaging and entertaining at once, it is undoubtedly one of the finest films to have come out in Malayalam in recent times.
Feyzee (Dulquer Salman) hopes to be a chef, much against the aspirations of his dad (Siddique), who is a business tycoon. As circumstances would have it, he lands up at 'Ustad Hotel', a small beachside restaurant at Kozhikode, renowned for its scrumptious Biriyani. Working at the hotel along with his grand dad Karim (Thilakan),who is fondly called Ustad, Feyzee unearths a real world that exists beyond the sea and its shores.
The atmospheric brilliance that Lokanathan's camera offers transforms the hotel into a Jannat. Here is a heaven that has the dampness of the sea surf in the air, where Sufi dancers in long flowing white attires twirl around casting their shadows across the sands; where agile acrobats do somersaults as the sun decides to dip in the sea once again. The striking musical score by Gopi Sunder adds to the delectable whiff of the Biriyani that is all ready to be served.
Feyzee, sipping a Sulaimani along with Ustad, as the cold beach breeze blows across,
asks in a subdued tone as to what it is that makes the drink taste so special. Mohabbat,
answers the old man. Now that I think about it, perhaps it is this very special ingredient - mohabbat that Anwar and Anjali have added on in profusion that makes this exemplary film an out of the world experience! This one, folks, is sheer poetry on screen!
Cast And Crew
- Cast: Dulquar Salman,Siddhiq,Thilakan,Nithya Menon,Mammokkoya,
- Director: Anwar Rasheed
- Producer: Listin Stephen
- Banner: Magic Frames
- Music: Gopi Sunder
- Lyrics: Raffiq Ahmad
- Cinematography: Lokanathan
- Editing: Mahesh Nayayanan