JADOO

5 out of 10 

Release Date: 6th September 2013

Director: Amit Gupta (Resistance)

Cast: Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Kulvinder Ghir, Tom Mison, Nikesh Patel, Harvey Virdi, Paul Bazely, Sophiya Hayque, Paul Bhattacharjee and Adeel Akhtar with Madhur Jaffrey and Ray Panthaki

Writer: Amit Gupta

Trailer:JADOO

To be proofread: Jadoo is a nice little movie elevated by some nice performances by it’s lead ensemble. The only trouble with Jadoo is that it fails to take any risks and could have been way funnier considering the comic talent involved.

Two feuding brothers (HARISH PATEL – RUN FAT BOY RUN) and (KULVINDER GHIR – GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME) tear up the family recipe book and open their own restaurants. Years later Patel’s daughter Shalini (AMARA KHAN – ALL IN GOOD TIME) tries to end the fight by asking them to join forces and cater for her wedding.  And that’s essentially all there is. A rival Curry vendor played by Ray Panthaki (INTERVIEW WITH A HITMAN) is the true villain of the piece who stirs up the conflict in order to destroy both businesses.  Set in Leicester, it shows the English-Indian experience through a honeyed lense. Never has Leicester looked so interesting!

The days of exploiting culture clashes in movies are gone and Jadoo dodges a bullet by having Shalini’s family accept her fiancee, white and dull surgeon Mark (TOM MISON) for who he  is, not where he’s from and what he looks like. But it also makes for a duller film.  A lot more could have been made of the brother’s rivalry and some fun to be had with their insults but again the film chooses to opt for melodrama to bring the family together in the closing scenes.  Gladly, the acting brings the film home and its still a very easy film to like and that’s mainly down to he hugely warm and charismatic Harish Patel, who just about steals every film I’ve seen him in (he couldn’t rescue Keith Lemon – no one could).  The food on display will also make curry lovers go spare. I had a curry right after watching it so under no circumstances sit down to watch this hungry.

5 out of 10 – Light and very mildly funny. Quietly predictable but still easy to like if your looking for something inoffensive and enjoyable.  I’d recommend All In Good Time over this  – which shares similar plot lines and a number of the cast instead though for way bigger laughs (and cliches).

WHAT HAVE I SEEN THAT ACTOR IN BEFORE?

• Amara Karan: Those Four Walls, Lucky Man (TV), Ambassadors (TV), All In Good Time, A Fantastic Fear Of Everything, The Task, The Darjeeling Limited, St.Trinians
• Harish Patel: Lies We Tell, Gangster Granny (TV), All In Good Time, Keith Lemon, Run Fatboy Run, My Son The Fanatic
• Kulvinder Ghir: Those Four Walls, Level Up, Hackney’s Finest, Gone Too Far, Still Open All Hours (TV), Goodness Gracious Me (TV), Postman Pat (TV) (voice), Holby City (TV), Nina’s Heavenly Delights, Bend It Like Beckham, Goodness Gracious Me (TV), Rita Sue and Bob Too!, Howards’ Way (TV)
• Tom Mison: Sleepy Hollow (TV), Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
• Nikesh Patel: Honour 
• Harvey Virdi: Lies We Tell, Citizen Khan (TV), Honour, Coronation Street (TV), Brick Lane, Guru In Seven
• Paul Bazely: Benidorm (TV)
• Sophiya Hayque: Coronation Street (TV)
• Paul Bhatacharjee: Eastenders (TV), Dirty Pretty Things, Wild West
• Adeel Akhtar: The Show, Convenience, Utopia (TV), The Dictator (2012), Four Lions
• Madhur Jaffrey: A Late Quartet, Phoebe In Wonderland, Eastenders (TV), Flawless (1999), Vanya On 42nd Street, Wolf, Six Degrees of Seperation, Heat and Dust, Shakespeare Wallah
• Ray Panthaki: One Crazy Thing, Cryptic, Convenience, World War Dead, The Man Inside (2012), Interview With a Hitman,  Screwed (2011), It’s a Wonderful Afterlife, City Rats, Kidulthood, 28 Days Later, Ali G Inda House, Eastenders (TV)