Some movie casting news... Actor Manish Dayal will star opposite Helen Mirren in the DreamWorks' drama The Hundred-Foot Journey, an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Richard C. Morais: '90210's' Manish Dayal to Star Alongside Helen Mirren in DreamWorks' 'The Hundred-Foot Journey.'Dayal, who has had roles in 90210 and Switched at Birth, will play a young Indian man, Hassan Haji, whose family starts a culinary rivalry by moving to Southern France and opening an Indian restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant. Hassan eventually comes under the mentorship of famed chef Madame Mallory, played by Mirren.
Lasse Hallstrom has signed on to direct, and the movie will start production in the fall:
Steve Knight adapted the script from Richard C. Morais' best-selling book. Lasse Hallstrom will direct the film, which kicks off when an Indian family moves to southern France and opens an Indian restaurant 100 feet across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant. A culinary battle ensues between the two that ultimately tests the power of family, loyalty and love.Here's the description of the book:
Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and Juliet Blake are producing. DreamWorks president of production Holly Bario is overseeing for the studio.
Production will begin in September in France and India and will be released in U.S. theaters on Aug. 8, 2014. Disney is distributing the film in the United States and in select international territories, while Mister Smith Entertainment is handling distribution in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. DreamWorks’ partner Reliance will distribute the film in India.
"That skinny Indian teenager has that mysterious something that comes along once a generation. He is one of those rare chefs who is simply born. He is an artist."More here: Helen Mirren to Star in DreamWorks Drama 'The Hundred-Foot Journey.'
And so begins the rise of Hassan Haji, the unlikely gourmand who recounts his life’s journey in Richard Morais’s charming novel, The Hundred-Foot Journey. Lively and brimming with the colors, flavors, and scents of the kitchen, The Hundred-Foot Journey is a succulent treat about family, nationality, and the mysteries of good taste.
Born above his grandfather’s modest restaurant in Mumbai, Hassan first experienced life through intoxicating whiffs of spicy fish curry, trips to the local markets, and gourmet outings with his mother. But when tragedy pushes the family out of India, they console themselves by eating their way around the world, eventually settling in Lumière, a small village in the French Alps.
The boisterous Haji family takes Lumière by storm. They open an inexpensive Indian restaurant opposite an esteemed French relais—that of the famous chef Madame Mallory—and infuse the sleepy town with the spices of India, transforming the lives of its eccentric villagers and infuriating their celebrated neighbor. Only after Madame Mallory wages culinary war with the immigrant family, does she finally agree to mentor young Hassan, leading him to Paris, the launch of his own restaurant, and a slew of new adventures.
The Hundred-Foot Journey is about how the hundred-foot distance between a new Indian kitchen and a traditional French one can represent the gulf between different cultures and desires. A testament to the inevitability of destiny, this is a fable for the ages—charming, endearing, and compulsively readable.
