`Daawat-e-Ishq` review: Get ready for Parineeti, Aditya's feasty affair

No love is greater than the love of food!

The movie starts on this note--an extravaganza for food lovers, filled with the successful recipe to brew a spicy love. `Daawat-e-Ishq`, a Habib Faisal direction, explores the romantic drama that unfurls between Parineeti Chopra and Aditya Roy Kapur, but with a strong social message.

Hyderabadi born and brought up Gullu aka Gulrez played by Parineeti Chopra, is a shoe sales girl who gets disillusioned with the idea of marriage. Anupam Kher plays a supporting and honest clerk in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, who tries his best to fetch a fitting groom for his daughter. But alas! Social evil such as dowry, leads them to suffer humiliation and rejection from all the prospective grooms, because of the inability to submit to exorbitant demands. 

Gullu, who is a hard-core food lover and wants to be a shoe-designer someday, loses all hope of ever meeting an honest man. So, she convinces her father to con a greedy groom and fake a marriage, and later slap charges of dowry harassment (article 498 A) to fetch a pricey sum. With that she hopes to fulfil all her dreams. 

The father-daughter duo's quest brings them to the land of `biryani and kebabs`--Lucknow. Enter Tahir aka `Taru` Haidar, a Lucknawi 'aashiq' who can delight anybody with his cooking talent. Their love blossoms over Taru's funny one-liners and some delicious street food.

The idea was to dupe Taru, but like all other Bollywood clichés, the con-girl (here Parineeti) ends up falling in love with the softer side of Taru. And as any expected rom-com drama, there is a twist in the love story. From there, the story gets intense with the right kind of build-up and the climax has everything in the right amount to keep you hooked to your seat.

The clash in Gullu and Taru's love story, has a dramatic end.

The makers of the film projected it as a fiesty love story set in the backdrop of delicious cuisines. The way they kept the actual story-line under wraps till the release of the film is another thing. For one, `Daawat-e-Ishq` is just not about two food lovers meeting and exploring their taste for different varieties of cuisines. 

There is more to the movie than that. Parineeti and Aditya deliver strong performances in bringing out hassles associated with dowry in India. Where on one hand they have shown the family of a girl getting bogged down by the evil and losing faith in the institution of marriage, on the other hand they have also depicted an ideal groom through the character of Aditya, who believes in finding a partner on the grounds of compatibility and not forceful dowry demands. 

The plot starts losing its ground in the first half, and entry of Aditya is also quite late. But through the second half, the movie picks its pace and the story build-up is intense. Anupam Kher fits well in the Hyderabadi avatar and so does Parineeti, who speaks in the typical Hyderabadi accent throughout the film. The chemistry between Pari and Aditya is light-hearted and rather sweet.

Parineeti is quirky, fun and bold, whereas Aditya charms everyone with his witty Lucknawi `hero` style. In short, a smooth performance by Aditya (though he really needs to shake off his neck-jostling move, that is so evident from his first movie).

He comes out as an ideal husband-to-be, and I am sure an inspiration to many men out there. What comes as a surprise element is the heartthrob of television- Karan Wahi, who has a minimal screen space but is charming, nevertheless.

Direction is good, and the storyline and plot is average. The dialogues are apt and to an extent the humour also strikes the right note with the audiences. Though there is nothing new in the script, but it is served with a whiff of fresh air.

Music by Sajid-Wajid is soothing and at the same time peppy, which can be called a typical Yash Raj way. Therefore, with a fine social message set on the background of two food lovers, `Daawat-e-Ishq` can be safely called a platter of light-hearted rom-com.

This weekend, get prepared for a delicious mix of food to startle your senses with a strong message!