Beachside hotel

After an interval, Anwar Rasheed checks into tinsel town with Ustad Hotel.

June 21, 2012 04:27 pm | Updated 04:27 pm IST

Dulquar Salmaan in Ustad Hotel.

Dulquar Salmaan in Ustad Hotel.

It was during the making of Kerala Café that Anwar Rasheed and Anjali Menon laid the foundation of their movie Ustad Hotel , which is opening its doors to viewers today. Scripted by Anjali and directed by Anwar, Ustad Hotel seems to have got the right ingredients to woo finicky viewers in Kerala.

Anwar says the movie is all about food for the body and the soul. "It is about this quaint place called Ustad Hotel run by a foodie on a beach in Kozhikode. He sells biriyani – not to make money but to ensure that his biriyani has his customers asking for more. It is the aroma of good food and the smile on his customers’ faces that keep him going and not the tinkle of money. It is also about the bonding between a grandfather and his grandson, a non-resident Indian and a chef," says Anwar, as he gets ready to serve his latest cinematic offering to tickle the palate of viewers who have been feasting on some exceptionally interesting themes off late.

Analysing his films candidly, Anwar admits that although he made his reputation as a director of high-voltage entertainers, he has always enjoyed the simplicity of films that go beyond action and melodrama. “Right from the time we met, Anjali and I were able to strike a strong rapport with each other. I enjoyed both Manjadikkuru and Happy Journey , which were directed by her. After I finished Bridge , [Anwar’s film in Kerala Café ], I was in the process of finalising a new project. However, nothing was working out and I had to shelve a couple of projects. All the time, we were in touch with each other and that is when she suggested the idea of Ustad Hotel ,”explains Anwar.

Thilakan and Dulquer Salmaan enact the grandfather (Kareem ekka ) and the grandson (Faizi) respectively. Siddique dons the roles of Faizi’s father and Nithya Menen plays an interior decorator.

“All the characters in the film are related to the Hotel in one way or the other. Food is right on the top of the agenda of any true blue native of Kozhikode and there is a mindboggling variety of food in Kozhikode. So viewers are in for a treat! It is the simplicity of this heart-warming tale and the vivid characters that caught my attention as soon as Anjali narrated the one-line story to me!” he says.

Songs scored by Gopi Sundar have whetted the appetite of the audience who have already been treated to a couple of songs (‘Appangal Embadum’ and ‘Vaathilil’).

Anwar says that releasing the songs was part of a marketing strategy to keep the movie in the news. “I am not a director who is always in the media and we did not have a cast of super stars either. The other songs were situational songs that took the story forward. So those songs could not be released to the media. Hence, these were the only two songs that could be aired and that is why the songs, especially ‘Appangal embadum’ was released so early. It has been sung by a Kozhikode-based alternative rock group called ‘Kaallumekaya.’ We felt that since the story is set in Kozhikode, that too in a part that has not been seen too much in films, this song should do the trick.” Well, now, viewers should be hungry to see what Ustad Hotel dishes out.

What’s cooking?

Anjali writes in her blog that she got the story of Ustad Hotel during a lunch with the directors of Kerala Café. She writes: “April 2009 – We were at the first discussion meeting of Kerala Café in Kochi. All the directors arrived and I was meeting most of them for the first time. At lunch time, biriyani packets arrived at the table. It smelt delicious and as I helped myself I asked ‘Where is this biriyani from?’

Anwar told her the name of the hotel and in two years time, the two were working on a project that had a hotel specialising in biriyani. It is also the first film that Anjali is writing for someone else.

Directing Dulquar

A nwar has directed Mammootty in two films – Rajamanickam and Annan Thampi – both of which were hits, especially the former, which also marked Anwar’s debut as a director. In Ustad Hotel, Anwar works with Mammootty’sson Dulquar, who is exactly one film old. Brushing aside any attempt at comparing the two, he says it would not be fair to compare a veteran like Mammootty with Dulquar, a newcomer. “Dulquar has done an excellent job. He belongs to a new school of actors who shun melodrama. Subtlety is the hallmark of these actors and Dulquar impressed me with his dedication and hard work. Instead of aspiring for the super star tag or any other tag for that matter, he comes across as a youngster who is keen on doing a wide range of interesting characters and make his mark as an actor,” says Anwar.

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