Gulrez Qadir (played by Parineeti Chopra) is a Hyderabadi sales girl, but despite being an academic topper and speaking good English, her prospective in-laws demand a dowry from her father (Anupam Kher).
Gulrez falls in love with Amjad Baig (Karan Wahi), a rich guy who is on his way to the US for further studies.
However, when their respective parents meet up for marriage discussion, Gulrez gets shocked to hear Amjad’s parents asking for high amounts of monetary ‘help’ and even Amjad does not say anything to this.
From this experience, Gulrez decides to teach the ‘dowry’ seeking grooms and their families a lesson.
Enter Tariq Haider (Aditya Roy Kapur), the owner of a famous Lucknow restaurant who happens to also be one of the grooms that Gulrez wants to teach a lesson to.
However, what happens when this lesson gets disillusioned into love and she gets charmed by the aromatic flavours of his biryani and kebabs? This forms the rest of the story.
[easyreview title=”DAAWAT-E-ISHQ” cat1title=”Story” cat1detail=”Although based on the socially relevant topic of dowry, the story falls flat in the second half and the last 15 minutes are particularly disappointing.” cat1rating=”2.5″ cat2title=”Performances” cat2detail=”The actors all excel in their roles and absorb the authenticity of their characters.” cat2rating=”3.5″ cat3title=”Direction” cat3detail=”Again, a disappointing second half and a predictable script makes the audience lose interest. Habib Faisal has done better.” cat3rating=”2.5″ cat4title=”Production” cat4detail=”The production captures the true essence of Hyderabad and Lucknow, as well as their delicious culinary delights.” cat4rating=”3.5″ cat5title=”Music” cat5detail=”The audience leaves the cinema forgetting most of the tracks of the film. A poor effort by Sajid Wajid.” cat5rating=”1″ summary=’Watch Daawat-E-Ishq only if you love Aditya Roy Kapur, Parineeti Chopra or Lucknowi food.’ word=’A TASTY TREAT’]
The title itself is misleading. Daawat-e-Ishq was promoted to be a love story with food playing a major role.
However, the film is actually about the dowry system and the only relevance food has within the storyline is that Aditya Roy Kapur plays a chef and he feeds Parineeti his culinary creations, which bring forward their affection for each other.
Nonetheless, watching Daawat-e-Ishq makes you savour every dish featured in the film from the gulab jamans to the kebabs.
The performances certainly are the biggest strength of the film. Aditya gets it right as the Lucknowi chef from his look, his dialogue delivery, his body language to his expressions.
One finally takes him out of his roles as an alcoholic and effortlessly begin to see him in a different light. The unfortunate thing though is that he only appears 50 minutes into the film.
Parineeti Chopra, on the other hand, who is known for her ability to play the small town lively desi girls, is not seen in a different light. Her character plays snippets of resemblance to her other roles, particularly Zoya from Ishaqzaade.
Karan Wahi, who debuts in this film, does well in most scenes but his ‘so called’ American accent sounded more British than American.
The fault of the film does not lie in the actors though but the issue that they are serving a story that loses track early on and gets muddled.
The first half smooths quite well mostly because Parineeti Chopra is so easy to watch on screen and several episodes occur before the main plot comes into place, which keep you engaged. The playful father-daughter banter also works well in the first half.
The film becomes predictable in the second half. You can guess what will happen in the end and this leads to you slowly losing interest.
Habib Faisal, like always, does create relatable characters and captures them in his dialogue but they aren’t as catchy and memorable as the dialogues in Band Baaja Baaraat, nor are they as funny either. The film could have definitely been more humorous, particularly if it wanted to be considered a rom-com.
One would have expected more chemistry between Parineeti and Aditya. They looked very good together during promotional events and they are both the young new talents of the industry.
However, the chemistry does not simmer well and was not given enough time. Therefore, it is difficult for the audience to believe that both could be in love with each other.
The gastronomic love affair had a lot of potential from its engaging trailer, talented array of actors and a fantastic writer and director.
However, what starts off as promising does not end that way as it turns into a bland biryani that just doesn’t hit the right taste buds.
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