Today's Special

Cinephile deep dive

The take

David Kaplan directs. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Hungarian, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 17 years ago.
• 2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Hungarian, English.
• 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 4Aasif Mandvi and Jess Weixler and Naseeruddin Shah carry the top of the cast.
• 5Marketing tagline: "Life Has No Recipe".
• 6IMDB entry: tt1153053 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Runtime

99 min · 1h 39m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$400,654

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Today's Special (2009) ↗

Also by

David Kaplan

• 
  Little Red Riding Hood

  1997 · ★ 5.9
• 
  Year of the Fish

  2007 · ★ 4.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Today's Special Official Theatrical Trailer 480p Opens NOV 19th!

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• uNiversal2013-03-06
  ★ 6/10

  TODAY’S SPECIAL is a heartwarming comedy with a culinary flavor, co-written by Aasif Mandvi, Jonathan Bines, and directed by David Kaplan (Year of the Fish). It tells the story of Samir (Aasif Mandvi, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, THE LAST AIRBENDER) who is a sous chef who dreams of becoming the head chef at an upscale Manhattan restaurant. When he is passed over for a promotion he impulsively quits and lets his co-worker Carrie (Jess Weixler, TEETH) know that he intends to go to Paris and apprentice under a master French chef. Dreams must be put aside though after his father Hakim (Harish Patel, RUN FAT BOY RUN) has a heart attack and Samir is forced to take over Tandoori Palace, the nearly bankrupt family restaurant in Jackson Heights. Samir’s relationship with his parents and his heritage is immediately put to the test. He has been estranged from his father since the death of his older brother, and his mother Farrida, (played by legendary cookbook writer and actor, Madhur Jaffrey), is consumed with finding a wife for her remaining son. While Samir is being forced to forsake his dreams, he is desperately trying to master Indian cooking to salvage the family business. Luckily, he crosses paths with Akbar, a taxi driver, passionate chef, and worldly raconteur (portrayed by the icon of Indian cinema, Naseeruddin Shah, MONSOON WEDDING). Akbar inspires Samir and teaches him to trust his senses more than recipes; to stop measuring his life, and to start truly living it. With Akbar’s guidance, Samir has a chance to rediscover his heritage and his passion for life through the enchanting art of cooking Indian food. Today’s Special was inspired by the Obie Award winning play, Sakina’s Restaurant, a one man show written and performed by Aasif Mandvi, developed and directed by Kimberley Hughes.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Inimitable Pictures

  US

• SW

  Sweet180

Key crew

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• business card
• muslim american
• indian cuisine

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2009-11-19R

Also known as

International titles

• 7 to the PalaceUS
• The Nosferatu ProjectUS
• The Untitled Aasif Mandvi Feature ProjectUS