Salt n Pepper : Return of the Golden Era?

Courtesy: http://mmcorkut.blogspot.in / SwethaMenon.Net

Whether you believe in living to eat or eating to live - everybody loves food. To make food an instrument of bondage, has been executed extremely well by Aashiq Abu and team.

The story of Salt 'n' Pepper mainly revolves around dubbing artiste, Maya (Swetha Menon) and archeologist, Kalidasan (Lal). They are middle-aged, single and most importantly foodies with a heap of insecurities. The plot which brings them together is designed with food. It is an interesting concept and has been evidently executed well on screen. The movie is a right balance of all emotions. There is humour peppered in the right proportion through out the movie. Kalidasan's nephew, Manu (Asif Ali) and Maya's room-mate, Meenakshi (Mythili) are there to add colour and vigour to the movie with strokes of youth. The most surprising element of the movie, however, is Babu - Kalidasan's cook who is a light-hearted person absolutely passionate about his culinary skills. So what's so different? Cooks are either depicted light-hearted or extremely naive right? The difference is to see Baburaj adorning the role of Babu.

In a nutshell, the movie is a brilliant romantic comedy.

I loved:

• The profession that was chosen for Kalidasan - an archeologist. It has a strong hand in effortlessly imbibing within you that this man is not about outward appearance.
• Baburaj: The guy had me bowled over! He has executed this role with so much of ease and expertise you simply cannot hold back the applause. It was amazing to see and hear him different. You can always imagine Baburaj with a knife but not with vegetables beneath the knife.
• Swetha Menon: She looks lovely - all covered up. I didn't fail to notice that the director hasn't overdone the part where Maya begins shedding her insecurities. Her attire and wardrobe doesn't change overnight. She seems elevated and happy. Yet she continues to have all the elements that Maya has from the beginning of the movie. The role definitely has been carefully crafted and neatly displayed.
• Mythili's costumes: They were so beautiful that I couldn't help wishing if I could shift her wardrobe into my room - the skirts in particular. She is a pretty picture on screen.
• The humour: It's subtle and hilarious at the same time. It's the kind of humour which will magically get your hands together in applause. I'd give an extra star to the scene in which Kalidasan meets and hires Babu. The thought of it can make me laugh out loud!
• The food: Food has been portrayed with utmost dignity. It's lovely and you actually feel like eating what's on screen. The passion with which they make food also inspires you to cook. The cake-baking sequence was amazing and so was the dosa flashback. Believe me! I instantly felt like ordering a dosa.
• The pace: I felt the movie had the right pace for the plot. No twists, chaos or gang fights to alert you of an upcoming climax. It's a smooth ride.
• Swetha Menon as Maya and Lal as Kalidasan: It was interesting to note that the artists chosen for the roles were not over-sized people, thus implying that foodies needn't necessarily be over-sized. I also found it interesting that the director chose them to portray the roles of people with insecurities - in spite of the fact that they are fairly good-looking people. It's a true reflection of life.

If only:

• Name of the movie: I would have greatly appreciated if the movie was named uppum kurumullakum or uppum pulliyum. I miss those good ol' malayalam names.
• Music: Didn't find the music too great. It is nothing different in terms of visuals, lyrics or music. Chambaavu is quite nice. The visuals does keep your salivary glands active. Although the the much-hyped about 'Avial' number is not my kind of music, I agree that it was worth as a promotional number. However, in my opinion, it didn't warrant to be a part of the movie on the big screen.
• The tail end of the climax: Ahh… I'll leave that for you all to decide. I am not getting into the details and spoil your fun. Please note that I liked way in which the story ended. Its just the extras that were on screen during the climax that made me frown a bit.

The judge in me says: 

I'd give it an 8 on 10.