There always seems to be mileage to be had from rival Indian restaurateurs. Producers always seem to think it will lead to hilarious results. Anyone remember the Channel 4 sitcom Tandoori Nights from the mid 1980s?In Jadoo two brothers who fell out years earlier split their mother's cookbook into two halves. One had the starter courses and the other had the main courses. Both opened restaurants in Leicester opposite each other.Of course the restaurant with the starter recipes has underwhelming mains and the one with the main recipes could never get his starter dishes right.Both brothers accuse each other of skulduggery from trying to steal staff, making phantom bookings to dumping rubbish and calling the health inspector.One of the daughter's who is due to get married wants the brothers to heal the rift for her wedding and take part together in a curry competition so they can thwart another rival restaurateur.Jadoo is an amiable low budget film shot on location in Leicester. It even features the local Member of Parliament Keith Vaz as a judge alongside cook and actress Madhur Jaffery.It is feel good film carried with aplomb by Amara Karan as the daughter/niece marrying outside the family tradition. Harish Patel and Kulvinder Ghir play the rival brothers and chefs although Ghir plays his role with more subtlety than Patel, who like his girth is a bit on the broad side.

What a wonderful, sweet little film!.. I think another reviewer on here has rather missed the point-and I completely disagree about the quality of acting-we all know what will eventually happen, but it shouldn't stop us enjoying the journey getting there... I shall gloss over the plot: two brothers fall out, split their mother's cookbook into two halves-starters and main courses-and open their own rival restaurants. The daughter/niece resolves to heal their 10-year rift upon her engagement, and get them both to her wedding... As much as anything else, this is pure food porn, with countless mouthwatering dishes passing before our eyes... There is a climax, a twist and a reveal, but all ends up right in the end... I was drawn in from the first minute after seeing the beautiful Amara Karan on screen-she stole the show, but there were plenty of good performances, mainly by the Asian actors, although Tom Mison held his own. A good film to watch on a wet Sunday afternoon, especially if you can rustle up some daal and naan to eat while watching-this film will make you hungry!.. Interestingly, the Holi footage looked authentic, and although having subtitles may put off some viewers, stick with it-how many non-Indians speak Hindi, and it all adds to the authenticity!.. A surprise guest appearance from Madhur Jaffrey (a true goddess of sub-continental cooking-I own at least a dozen of her books myself), and another by Hardeep Singh Kohli made it even more fun. For those of you over the pond, this may go some way to explaining why Indian culture, especially food, is so deeply rooted in Britain (there is an Indian restaurant on every high street, in every village in the UK). This film was mainly set in Leicester, which I have never visited, but is home to the largest 'Indian' population in the UK. It now hosts the largest Diwali (Hindu festival of lights) celebration outside India herself. It's population can trace their ancestry back to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, but also, Kenya (my home), Uganda, South Africa and the Caribbean. This was a wonderful 'feel-good' movie (not least because of the food, but then I've been addicted to Indian food since I was three years old), and probably a great film to watch with friends while sharing food (and drink-remember Hindus and Sikhs both enjoy a tipple), but I have two questions for the producers: firstly, why was there not more fuss made over winning the 'Kings of Curry' competition?.. And, far more importantly, why did we not get to see the wedding which we all knew was coming?.. I was most disappointed... A 'Bollywood'-style musical ending would have been the cherry on the Peda!.. Oh, and I should add, I'm heading off to Leicester as soon as I can!..Update: I have still not made it to Leicester, but have attempted some of the recipes in this film (the chicken and asparagus is wonderful)... I'd forgotten how beautiful Amara Khan was, despite seeing her in "The Darjeeling Limited", and enjoyed seeing (again) the passion that cooking can evolve... I am about to start cooking this week's daal... It will last from tomorrow (Monday) until Friday, and this is one of the films that made me experiment until I got the recipe perfect... Oh, and if you were wondering, I am white English/German, and my wife is Irish/Italian-not a drop of "Indian" blood between us...

Jadoo is a surprisingly funny, feel good British Asian comedy. Endearing, mouth-watering and with a terrific reveal at the end. The story line is simple - two brothers with competing restaurants involved in a long running family feud over their mothers' recipe book and the daughter who endeavours to bring them back together. Jadoo is what independent film making is all about and does not take itself too seriously. A heartfelt story teaching us about the value of family as so often is shared through a meal. We get a unique glimpse into the largest Indian community in the UK (Leicester). The south Asian actors steal the show. A must see for all ages. A few genuinely funny scenes and countless on screen mouth-watering Indian meals later, I could not help but smile.

I was expecting to see a British comedy in the same vein as East Is East, or even in the great tradition of Ealing comedies. Maybe that was too much to expect, but at least I hoped to see a decent film, as it was on my BAFTA screeners list. It is poorly directed, acting is mostly wooden, camera angles and eyelines are all a bit odd. I was surprised to see a few actors who have done good work elsewhere but who can't lift this material at all. The premise is promising: Two brothers who used to be partners/ owners of an Indian restaurant in Leeds fall out and split the business. I started watching Jadoo with my husband and we could only manage it for about 20 mins before we agreed to switch it off. If you like wooden acting and panto filmmaking then this is for you.