By: Kristine Bergstrom

Mumbai-born comedian Aasif Mandvi has appeared on popular American TV shows like Sex and the City and The Sopranos, as well as in movies like Music and Lyrics with Drew Barrymore, Spider-Man 2 and The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. He is now coming out with a new movie, Today's Special, which is based on his play Sakina's Restaurant that he originally wrote in 1998. Harish Patel plays Aasif's father. He has previously starred in movies like Run, Fat Boy Run.

In Today's Special, Aasif plays Samir, a chef who misses out on a promotion at an upscale Manhattan restaurant by sneering star chef Steve (Dean Winters) because his dishes aren't flamboyant enough. Upset, Samir quits on the spot and makes plans to go to France, but is forced to step in and run his father's (Harish Patel) restaurant Tandoori Palace after he suffers a heart attack. Check out DH!'s exclusive interview with Aasif Mandvi and Harish Patel to find out more about the feel-good comedy. 

DH!: Aasif, you co-wrote Today's Special, what was your inspiration for the movie?

Aasif: I did a show about ten years ago, a one-man show called Sakina's Restaurant, and that was sort of the inspiration. It's not based on that play but the inspiration in terms of the world of an Indian immigrant family and a restaurant and all that stuff, and New York. The film I co-wrote with a guy called Jonathan Bines who is also a former writer on The Daily Show [with Jon Stewart]. I sort of brought the characters that I created based on my family and then Jon is a foodie, he's like a food nut, the guy can talk about a cup of coffee for half an hour. And he brought that knowledge, and then we both had our narrative and comedic background so we decided that it would be great to write a movie that was set in an Indian restaurant that dealt with Indian food, and nobody in the U.S. had ever made a movie like that, so it seemed like something that would be fun to do.  

DH!: So there are elements in the movie that you have taken from your personal life?

Aasif: Oh yeah, you know, Harish, who plays the character of my father, Hakim, is based on my dad. And so a lot of what the character says in the film is actually stuff that my dad has said in real life.  

DH!: Tell us about your respective roles in the movie.

Aasif: I play Samir, the lead character who wants to be a great chef and he has to take over his dad's Indian restaurant in Jackson Heights after his dad has a heart attack, and Harish Patel plays my father. 

Harish: We had these feelings and relationship, which come out.

It was such a beautiful script, when I read it I told my manager that I have to do it!

DH!: Harish, did you ever meet Aasif's father before shooting the movie?

Aasif: He never met my father but we connected, I think that you know, there are a lot of touching scenes that the two of them have in the film so I felt like we got to explore that, and it comes out. 

Harish: A lot of communication gaps, but there is a connection and emotional moments, and funny too. 

DH!: Aasif, did your dad see the movie and did he think Harish did a good job at portraying him?

Aasif: Yeah my dad saw the movie actually and he liked it, you know, it's very powerful for my father because he [Harish] is portraying this character who is saying things that my dad [have said] you know so for him it's like seeing himself. He felt like the story of that character is his story in some ways, so it's very personal for him. 

This was my first time working with Naseer and Harish, so I don’t know how these guys work in Bollywood and what the conditions are, so we were just like, 'this is what we have, this is the thing, you wanna come do it.'

DH!: What was your favorite moment in the movie?

Harish: My favorite moment in the film is the last scene when I actually taste all the food [laughter] and I really say, 'yes this is my son' you know. I had always been praising the son who is no more, who had died. Hakim always thinks that Samir is a useless person; he cannot do anything in his life. But eating and tasting every dish makes him, there are tears in his eyes. 

Aasif: That was a great scene to film actually.

Harish: And also the father accepts defeat. He accepts that he was wrong. It comes out very beautiful. 

Aasif: Yeah, it's moving and touching and funny at the same time. 

My favorite moment in the film is the last scene when I actually taste all the food.

DH!: So what was the atmosphere on the set like? Did the cast hang out off set? Did you get curries in Jackson Heights? 

Aasif: We used to eat at the kebab place next door, so we're making a movie about Indian food and then we go eat Afghan kebab every day next door! But no, it's tough work making a film in 23 days, an independent film you know so people are working, and they're tired you know; it's not a thing where you go out afterward, everyone goes home to sleep and then wake up at 5 o'clock the next morning. But we all got along really well.

Harish: We never knew when the shooting was finished, time flies actually.  

Aasif: When you are doing this for no money, no one has time for diva attitudes and stuff, nobody is gonna be like 'where's my trailer?' Naseer [Naseeruddin Shah] came from India, he's one of the biggest Bollywood stars. He's sitting in a chair in a back alley, you know on a plastic chair and just kind of slumming it with us, so it was kind of great. 

Harish: And working in hot conditions. I'm from Bollywood, I know. I can't imagine actually anybody there, any production, making Naseer work in such conditions there, in Mumbai, no way! Here he was enjoying it actually. He was catching the flying chickens and running around after them!

Aasif: He was great! I didn't want to touch those chickens 'cause I was scared of them, but he picked up those chickens! I never worked with Naseer before, this was my first time and my first time working with Harish, so I don't know how these guys work in Bollywood and what the conditions are, so we were just like, 'this is what we have, this is the thing, you wanna come do it,' and I'm very happy that Naseer and Harish, both of them came from India all the way here to do it. 

Harish: It was such a beautiful script, when I read it I told my manager that I have to do it!

DH!: What's next for you? What are your upcoming projects? Aasif you have now brought Bollywood actors here, are you gonna go there soon?

Aasif: Nobody has asked me to go to Bollywood yet, but if they do and it's the right thing, of course I would be interested in doing it. I personally have a couple of movies coming out next year. I just did a movie with a director named David Koepp who did Ghost Town, it's called Premium Rush; it's coming out with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I have another movie called Dark Horse that Todd Solondz has directed, I have another film called Margin Call, which is about the financial crisis with Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore. 

Harish: I just completed the film Rafta Rafta in London actually that is based on a play which I did for the National Theatre in London. We completed it in August-September and it should come out in February. It was beautiful working on that film, and working on Today's Special was sumptuous and delicious!

Aasif: Well you got to eat!