Today's Special (film)
| Today's Special | |
|---|---|
Reliance MediaWorks Ltd | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $317,831[1] |
Today's Special is a 2009 independent comedy film loosely inspired by Aasif Mandvi's play, Sakina's Restaurant. The film was directed by
Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah, Jess Weixler, Harish Patel, Kevin Corrigan, Dean Winters, and Ajay Naidu
. The film was developed and produced by Nimitt Mankad of Inimitable Pictures, and Lillian LaSalle of Sweet 180.
The film premiered at the
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival on March 11, 2010.[5]
Plot
Samir (
sous chef at an upscale New York restaurant, gets frustrated with his boss (Dean Winters) and quits after being passed over for a head chef position. His dreams of studying French cuisine in France are shattered after his father becomes ill and Samir must take over his family's Indian restaurant, Tandoori Palace in Queens. The restaurant has two chefs who don't know what they're doing, an old-fashioned wall and faltering income since the only customers are Samir's uncles sitting at a table playing cards. Samir is clueless over what to do because his knowledge of Indian cooking is limited. Then he meets the larger-than-life gourmet chef and taxi driver Akbar (Naseeruddin Shah). Samir's world is transformed via Akbar's cooking lessons, the magic of the masala and a beautiful co-worker, Carrie (Jess Weixler). Meanwhile, his mother (Madhur Jaffrey) tries to get him to settle down with a nice Indian girl and his father Hakkim (Harish Patel) is convinced his son will amount to nothing. Samir, Akbar and the kitchen staff first update the restaurant's look. Then with Akbar's eccentric help, they concoct the most magical and mouthwatering dishes in what soon becomes the best little Indian bistro in New York with booming business. Akbar, however, moves to Akron, Ohio
but tells Samir that he can do it alone. Hakkim plans to sell the restaurant to an uncle but Samir, along with help from his uncles and Carrie, greatly improves business at the restaurant. Hakkim tastes his son's cooking, is impressed and decides not to sell the restaurant. Finally, Hakkim hugs his son and tells him he is proud of him.
Cast
- Aasif Mandvi as Samir
- Dean Winters as Steve
- Kevin Corrigan as Stanton
- Naseeruddin Shah as Akbar
- Jess Weixler as Carrie
- Ajay Naidu as Munnamia
- Kevin Breznahan as Freddie
- Harish Patel as Hakim
- Amir Arison as Dr. Semaan
- Madhur Jaffrey as Farrida
- Ranjit Chowdhry as Regular #1
- Kumar Pallana as Regular #2
Awards
- Best of the Fest Award at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival
- Aasif Mandvi - Best Actor Award at the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival[6]
References
- ^ "Today's Special".
- ^ "Ninth Annual MIAAC Film Festival - November 11-15, 2009". www.iaac.us. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
- ^ Kay2009-09-25T05:44:00+01:00, Jeremy. "Today's Special to open Mahindra IAAC Film Festival". Screen. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Ninth Annual MIAAC Film Festival - November 11-15, 2009". www.iaac.us. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
- ^ G. Allen Johnson (March 7, 2010). "Aasif Mandvi's "Today's Special' opens festival". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Summer, Bombay (November 20, 2009). ""Bombay Summer" rules NY film fest". The Hindu. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
External links
- Today's Special at IMDb
