Critics Rating: 2.5 Stars*

Cast: Parineeti Chopra, Anupam Kher, Aditya Roy Kapur

Direction: Habib Faisal

Produced: Aditya Chopra

Written: Habib Faisal

Genre: Comedy Drama

Duration: 2 Hrs 3 Mins

Daawat-e-Ishq masquerades as a tongue-tantalising display of the Lucknow-Hyderabadi cuisine but endeavours instead to be socially relevant by tackling the subject of dowry. This leads to a criss-cross of two different concepts, neither of which are dealt with or brought to a satisfying conclusion. Still, this is a better love story than director Habib Faisal’s previous outing, Ishaqzaade.

The present film also has Parineeti playing a Muslim girl, Gulrez Qadir, this time in Hyderabad. Her inclination, instead of guns, is in footwear though we never see the passion for learning about shoes except maybe in one scene when she says, “I love shoes” in a shoe store where she works as a salesgirl. Stiletto enthusiast Carrie Bradshaw would disapprove.

Gulrez and her father Miyaan Qadir/Booji (Anupam Kher) can barely eke out a living from honest dealings, which means there is not enough to send her to New York to pursue her interest. This also means that there is not enough to go around for paying the dowry expectations that all prospective families have when they come to see her. When the duo realise that integrity holds little water in corrupt times, they plan a con job of revenge. But the best laid plans take a beating when along comes Lucknow’s Tariq Haidar, who runs a scrumptious (and surprisingly inexpensive) family eatery.

 

Daawat-e-Ishq is a better film than what the trailer implies (or does not). However, it languishes in the obscure intersection of good and bad films, by not falling in either category. The film drives too fine a point on the dowry issue, with both, a title card in the beginning and the leading lady stating that every hour a woman dies a dowry death. The grimness of this statistic is not brought out later in the film, which takes a typical rom-com route towards a convenient resolution, though the climax is mercifully not stretched.

Another instance of overemphasis is when Gulrez takes a rickshaw to leave Lucknow, in a key sequence. The vehicle has ‘Goodbye’ painted at the back. When one character hops on to the rickshaw to find another, the rickshaw has ‘Talaash’ written on it.

The good and the awkward walk hand-in-hand like an incongruous couple in this film. Gulrez’s casual put-down of a family that has come to see her in the opening scene is done well. There is a sweet moment where her Booji makes her tea in a clean cup labelled ‘Gullu’, while his own is chipped at the edge.

This little subtlety is overshadowed by Gulrez’s blossoming, short-lived interaction with Amjad Baig (Karan Wahi, in too brief a role to please remix and Dill Mill Gayye fangirls). The track happens too quickly, with a song sequence to capture the mood in case you missed out. A nod to Amjad’s vegetarianism is needless and adds nothing to the story.

 

The film livens up when Tariq makes his entry. There are some good scenes like when Gulrez and Booji take a rickshaw across Lucknow to evaluate the houses of suitors or when Tariq brings his fiery red Impala to take the damsel out for a spin.

There is no denying that Aditya Roy Kapur and Parineeti Chopra make a great combination of chemistry and talent. That itself lifts the film onto watchable ground.

Daawat-e-Ishq is not the food porn it purports itself to be, nor a scathing comment on a social malaise. It works as ordinary, fun escapism. Grab a table if you are up for a typical Yashraj romance.