With the amount of food related films that have been produced and released recently, it felt appropriate that this week’s hidden gem should also be a food-themed movie. So we urge you guys to check out this 2012 feel-good Malayalam film, Ustad Hotel. With critics giving above-average to good reviews for the film and its 100 day run in several Kerala theaters, it is safe to call Ustad Hotel a resounding success.
Coming off a high after his debut in Second Show, Dulquer immediately shifts gears for this family comedy-drama and his performance plays a huge part in making this movie a success. Second Show was an action crime film which showed that Dulquer had acting prowess, but his change in personality for Ustad Hotel showed his acting range, early on in his career.
Ustad Hotel is about a young man named Faizal, affectionately called Faizi by those close to him. He goes to Switzerland under the pretense to study hotel management there to keep his father happy, but secretly studies to become a professional chef. When this matter comes to light when Faizi ris at home in Kerala, his father takes away his passport to prevent him from leaving the country and go to his new job in the UK. Faizi leaves his father’s house and goes to his grandfather’s restaurant, Ustad Hotel in Kozhikode and works there while he figures out how to leave the country.
The film is filled with many creative varieties of food, including various fusions of Western and Indian dishes, but it also shows how food affects us – in all walks of life. We understand food in different forms in Ustad Hotel – as passion, plain sustenance, addiction, love, etc. As Faizi learns that there is more to food than what he learned in Switzerland, he finds out there are more lessons to be learned when it comes to food.
Thilakan, Nithya Menen, Siddique, Assim Jamal, Mamukkoya, Lena and Kunchan among others star alongside Dulquer Salman in this brilliant movie. Anjali Menon wrote the film, while Listin Stephen produced the movie. Directed by Anwar Rasheed, Ustad Hotel has gone on to win three National Film Awards.
Ustad Hotel is currently available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.