When two successful brothers (Harish Patel and Kulvinder Ghir), chefs by trade, fall out spectacularly they rip their recipe book in half and proceed to set up restaurants across the road from each other in Leicester’s famous Golden Mile. It takes one of the daughters (Amara Karan) – marrying into a different religion – to bring the brothers back together again and provide the catering of the big day. But nothing complicates this family more than the love of Indian food.
Jadoo pushes cross-religion, modern day relationships with a respectable feel. However, the boundaries each hold dear are never crossed; resulting in a lighthearted film which misses a real trick in showing how the new world has grown up in recent years. The fish out of water storyline for the posh male marrying into a Hindi family is soon pushed aside and only reverted back to towards the end. Instead, it all becomes about the inter-family rivalry where the bitter infighting may seem loud and large yet it never feels more than a slight family/lovers tiff that could be worked out within minutes.
There is more care and attention in the food than the characters. The dishes on display look gorgeous and make the mouth water in anticipation; it’s a great promotion for an Indian meal once the film is over. Sadly the big finale doesn’t deliver the big foodie wedding that is promised and the King Of Curries face-off is too soft for it to feel like a real competition. There is the odd familiar face that pops up throughout the film, including Queen of Curry Madhur Jaffrey, but it still doesn’t help that most of the cast seem way out of their depth and have no chemistry with each other. Stilted performances never break through the conventions of a script that is fun yet lacking humour in the right places.
At the start of the film, Jadoo is described as the Hindi word for ‘magic’, yet that’s exactly what the movie is missing.
Extras: No extras available at time of review
Mark has awarded Jadoo: Kings of Curry two Torches of Truth
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