Usthad Hotel review: "Delectable menu indeed!!!"

As audience we always believe that the life of stars are a bed of roses. There's no doubt that it's true to a certain extent but the pressure that they experience as comparisons are inevitable especially if you are the scion of a legend like Mammootty is unfathomable. Though Dulquer has done his father's reputation no harm with an impressive debut in "Second Show", the question now is whether he can carve a niche for himself. With an impressive cast & crew lined up for his second outing "Usthad Hotel", the signs are more than encouraging. 

Faizi (Dulquer Salman) is the apple of his father's eye, Abdu (Siddique) & the darling of his four sisters. Abdu has created a business empire of his own & just like most parents, expected to hand over the reins to his heir apparent in due time. But Faizi's love was in displaying his culinary skills in some hatted restaurant abroad rather than being confined behind the desk. As expected this evoked the wrath of his father & he was forced to leave his home. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he made his grandfather's Usthad Hotel his abode, who inculcated in him the importance of life & harnessed his culinary repertoire even further. But what is life without problems & the incidents that alter Faizi's way of looking at life forms the crux of the film.

Anwar Rasheed has already an enviable track record at the box office & though his earlier films relied purely on mass masala, his credentials as a talented director came to the fore with "Bridge", which was a segment of "Kerala Cafe". It wouldn't prudent to admit that he has raised the bar even more with his latest venture. This however has been possible with the able support of Anjali Menon who has been the talk of the town ever since the release of her critically acclaimed "Manjadikuru". Frankly speaking rather than her script, I would like to point out that it was her screenplay which was the highlight of the film. Both the halves were sprinkled with humorous moments with the latter half touching upon the emotional chords with the realities of life. Another major plus point is undoubtedly the brilliant BGM & music by Gopi Sundar with "Appangalebadum" rendered by Anna Katherine being a rage. Equally impressive was the mesmerising visuals by Lokanathan.

Dulquer has definitely shown that he is indeed a star in the making if he keeps choosing the right scripts. It wasnt a role which was tailor made for him, but his acting prowess & body language made it appear it was his for the taking. It would be unfair to compare him to his iconic father, but there are a couple of striking similarities be it the swagger & the innate ability to do emotional scenes. Thilakan is an actor par excellence & he has once again displayed why we are blessed to have him. Nitya Menon also held her own though it wasn't out of the ordinary.  Having a plethora of talented supporting cast consisting of Siddique, Mammukoya, Lena etc., all of them did their parts well. 

Verdict: Impressive promos, enviable cast & crew, smashing sound tracks...this assures nothing short of a fantastic initial.The film does live upto expectations though many people would find the slow pace to be a deterrent. 2012 started with the hit of Dulquer & as we reach the half way mark, Dulquer has gone a step further as this is likely to be a superhit. In short, dont miss a star in the making!!!

Rating: 4/5

Regards...Ben