Vaani Kapoor and Fawad Khan's 'Aabeer Gulaal' is a love letter to the UK

Director: Aarti S. Bagdi

Cast: Vani Kapoor, Fawad Khan, Lisa Haydon

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Rating: 2.5

Cinema has often used food as more than just a backdrop; it becomes a metaphor, a binding force, a conversation starter and sometimes even a character in its own right.

Sadly though, in Aabeer Gulaal – which follows a restaurateur and a chef's love story – the food centric moments are kept to a minimum.

Aabeer in Bengali means coloured powder, a reminder that even opposites, when brought together, can create love and harmony. Aabeer Singh, a celebrated chef from London, travels to Jaipur to judge a culinary contest. The winner is Gulaal Bajaj, a spirited young woman he had argued with the day before. Despite resistance from her family and an impending marriage, she convinces them to let her take the opportunity in London. Once there, her blunders put her in constant conflict with Aabeer until he decides to let her go. What follows is a journey of clashing personalities, family expectations and a past that refuses to stay buried.

Fawad Khan, who has always had stellar stage pressence, chanelled his no-nonsense Khoobsurat persona for the role. It worked, mostly. (Sadly, there was no coming back from the plot.)

Meanwhile, Vaani Kapoor looks good and delivers has a confusing character. She goes from a responsible daughter negotiating a six-month break to work abroad as a chef to suddenly treating the opportunity like a casual hobby, then conveniently opening a dance studio that lands her an audition in Can Britain Dance? Talk about plot convenience!

Amit Trivedi delivers a soundtrack that lingers. Songs like Khudaya Ishq, Angreji Rangrasiya, and the high-energy club number stand out and are likely to be remembered long after the credits roll.

This film showcases the UK in such a way that you can’t help but fall in love with cities like London, Edinburgh, Bath, and even Stanford.

However, the film leaves you with more questions than answers. Why does Khan take every unreasonable call from Vaani’s father? Where was Dogra for five whole years? Why did Lisa Haydon’s change of heart happen faster than a plot twist on reality TV? And why did Fawad have to trick his clearly supportive friend into signing a deal? Thanks to sloppy editing, half-baked characters leave us with loose ends everywhere.

The film leans heavily on YRF and Dharma universe. Dance competitions (which Vaani obviously wins), medley of retro songs, and nods to DDLJ and Chandni abound – like the rain-soaked dance between Vaani and Fawad echoes Kajol and Shah Rukh KHan in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It’s nostalgia turned cliché.

One can’t help but feel that Fawad deserved better — and so did the audience.

Sadiq Saleem is a UAE-based writer and can be contacted on his Instagram handle @sadiqidas.