Today's Special

The excellent comedic talent, Aasif Mandvi, plays a lovable character named Samir in a very funny comedy about Samir's life in New York. He works as a sous chef in a nice restaurant with the hope of becoming a full chef in his boss's newly opening restaurant. When that position fails to materialize for him, Samir quits in a huff and decides to move to Paris for an unpaid position with a famous chef there.

Not too surprisingly, it turns out he needs to stay in New York because of a family crisis (I won't say what) and Samir's help is needed with the family business. A thoroughly delightful story follows that is full of heart and full of humor, for a totally enjoyable experience! Highly recommended!

Yes this is a feel good movie and in some ways an adult coming of age movie but it's in no way stupid or trite.

The performances of all are impeccable, even the smallest of characters seem real and fully formed. The soundtrack is also fabulous.

Some of the plot I could see coming about a mile in advance but I really didn't care because I was enjoying it so much.

The Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi co-wrote and starred in this, this may put some more conservative viewers off but then they probably wouldn't watch the movie anyway because it's about Muslims in New York. I may be turning into Bill Maher.

I guess there's really no reason why I should try to persuade conservatives to watch it... except... it's a gem. Warning... may contain brown people.

It's sensitive, heartwarming, funny and uplifting without too many obvious clichés and as Aasif Mandvi's first movie, it's a triumph for him and a joy for us.

Rating and review:***** A great movie for the weekend. Funny and also will definitely stir your appetite or may even motivate the Chef hiding within you to get into the kitchen if you are a foodie !! I enjoyed and chuckled with the idiosyncratic behavior of the characters in the movie. It well depicted, with humor the generation gap of ethnic Indians raised in the West. No one else could have fit into the role Naseeruddin Shah played. cheers ! I wish more movies of this genre are made. I love the concept of blending into the Western culture while preserving the roots of ones own as show in this movie. That makes people more interesting. Enough of monotonous meat and potatoes I say !!

This is a really cute little film that will leave you feeling great, as well as hungry! All of the food looks awesome, and I like the way that they talk about it with such passion. Perfect film for chilling at home with some Indian takeout.

Aasif Mundvi is of course awesome as the caustic sarcastic Senior Muslim Correspondent on the Daily Show, but he shows a different side to his acting as the determined but troubled Samir. Naseeruddin Shah is brilliant as the taxi driver/chef. I loved his references to this crazy life that he has lead, and the way he really demonstrates passion and skill at cooking. Madhur jaffrey was a nice surprise as well. I have only seen her on the cover of cookbooks and jars of sauce, I didn't realize she could act as well! The story is simple but well told. You really feel for Aasif, and this is what carries the film along. Definitely recommend buying it on DVD when it comes out Jan 24th.

This is a heartfelt, amusing film starring Aasif Mandvi, mostly known for his work as a Daily Show correspondent. It's not quite as funny as I expected from a comedian of his caliber; not because he tried and failed, but because it's more of a quirky story of a personal journey. But there were definitely a good number of lines that were so funny I had to repeat them out loud to myself. It's a bit slow in the beginning (could have used some tighter editing), but give it some time to build. Naseeruddin Shah is magic, as always. If you know his work, nothing more needs to be said. If not, watch this and enjoy. (And I gotta say, I think he looks damn good for his age!) It is not a coincidence that the song Akbar (Shah) is listening to when Samir (Mandvi) first meets him is from a classic Hindi film in which the character says that although all his clothes come from other countries, his heart is still Indian. Samir has tried to cut himself off from Indian traditions, even while his parents are attempting to shove them down his throat; the more they push, the more he pulls away, and vise versa. Throughout the film, with help from unexpected places, he learns to reconcile his western life with his heritage, and appreciate where he came from.