After a not-so-formulaic debut with Do Dooni Chaar, filmmaker-script writer Habib Faisal tasted commercial success with Ishaqzaade and is now ready with his third film Dawat-e-Ishq, which hits the theatres today.
Donning a chef’s hat, the director steps into his kitchen of film making and uses the available ingredients to make out a sumptuous dish and invites us to a fiesta called Daawat-e-Ishq.
The film’s story revolves around Tariq Haider played by Aditya Roy Kapoor and Gulrez played by Parneeti Chopra. Tariq Haider is full of life and runs a famous restaurant named as ‘Haidari Kabab’. His restaurant is very famous which has been established since 1899 in Lucknow. He is very much loved by all his customers as he has many great recipes that his forefathers have developed in the period of over 100 years. Tariq also gets well known with the name of ‘Big Boss Haidari Kabab’ in the city. On the other hand Gulrez also having nick name as Gullu is shoe sales girl. Her dream is to somehow get to America and live a perfect life as shoe designer. For that she keeps building castles of dreams about her Mr. Perfect. Her demands are no less than any other girl, she wants a well educated, sophisticated and most of all he must be fluent in speaking English. However, for getting married with such highly qualified guy a huge amount of dowry is to be paid, which her father can’t afford at any cost.
The real twist in the story comes when Parineeti’s other face gets revealed to Tariq. Her shift of character brings masaledaar twist in the story and makes it tastier. The sweet and loving girl suddenly turns out to be a con woman. ‘What makes her to get to such level?’ has to be found out when you watch the film.
Being a light romantic saga the film can be considered digestive but at times it also seems like a boring ‘khichdi’. Aditya Roy Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra can be seen completely engrossed in their character and looks great exploring the colours of the city and romancing alongside on the streets. The vivacious Parineeti lights up every frame she’s in while Aditya with his charm and wit marks his presence.
The film’s music has already made its place in the chartbuster. Music composers Sajid-Wajid with their commercial sensibilities have poured in the right amount of drama in the songs. The qawwali number ‘Daawat-e Ishq’ is charged with festive spirits, while Shayarana is the film’s breezy romantic number.
Daawat-e-Ishq with its fragrance will take you to seventies; however the spirit of the movie is youthful and contemporary. Garnished with Aditya and Parineeti’s impressive performance the movie can be summed up as a dish made up using an old recipe with a modern fusion.