What started off promisingly is never fully exploited. Shame.

As Gullu’s straight-laced but loving father, Anupam Kher gives the film its only moments of honesty. The rest is an unpalatable snoozefest.

In the film’s dull menu the only item of interest is Aditya Roy Kapoor. Despite the complete lack of reciprocity from Parineeti, he is able to get intimate with her and turn the screen into a pool of feelings. He makes you want to be in love. Parineeti is a charming and competent actress but now she’s getting repetitive and boring. And here she isn’t even invested in her role. Her Hyderabadi accent comes and goes, like the fluctuating talent of Anupam Kher.

Habib Faisal has written and directed some memorable films but this one seems confused. Is it about food, romance, social message or a con film is open to interpretation. Strangely it was marketed as a food film (the title suggests it too) but the film isn’t about that. The film drags on in the second half.

Daawat-E-Ishq dodges you with tall promises of serving a great food film or even a good film. But it’s diet food variety of cinema that is neither healthy nor nutritious and leaves you famished by the end of it. Parineeti and Aditya despite their earnest performances cannot bring the needed charm to the film. I am going with a very generous 2.5/5. It had a lot of potential but the feeble sketching makes it a forgettable watch.

…the plot of DAAWAT-E-ISHQ does have a good social message relevant to today’s times, however, wrong marketing and slow pace of the film leaves the audience a bit disappointed.

The acting, especially Parineeti Chopra and the reliable Anupam Kher are the saving grace. While the film has got some of the things right, the fact is that the story is a dud. I was left hungry, not for food but for a good film.

…daawat is tasteless! The intention of director Habib Faisal is noble, but the route he has taken is long and boring.

The premise is promising and the intention is right. In a country where dowry is still a huge social malaise (the stats shown in the beginning of the film tell us that even now every hour, one woman in the country is killed for dowry), this film attempts to present the serious cause on an entertaining platter.

I came away with the baap-beti relationship rather than the love story. As for food, I craved for more.

Burp re burp.

Direction is good, and the storyline and plot is average. The dialogues are apt and to an extent the humour also strikes the right note with the audiences. Though there is nothing new in the script, but it is served with a whiff of fresh air.

Challenging the most generous to digest it, Daawat-E-Ishq is an overlong bore where the food in the film makes you hungry while the film makes you angry by its humdrum handling of romance, food and dowry.

The otherwise predictable story is saved by the brilliant performance of the cast. it isn’t a great film but is good enough for a one-time watch.

Writer-director Habib Faisal (Do Dooni Chaar, Ishaqzaade) attempts a foodie rom-com with a well-intentioned message. Perhaps it’s too much to put into one film, and all you get is undercooked, bland biryani, where the flavours clash instead of complementing each other.

In tennis terms, Daawat-e-Ishq, much like its maker, resembles that big-serving player who can boom in aces at will. But as soon as the ball is returned for a rally to be constructed, the player freezes. And the ideas dry up.

…whatever Habib has in his junket is surely to be tried once.
He may have missed out on appropriate amount of spices or may have just scalded couple of the recipes but he manages to keep us engaged in his carnival ‘Daawat-e-Ishq’.