Dilip Mehta's 'Cooking With Stella' hit at Los Angeles fest

Director Dilip Mehta is 'gratified' with the overwhelming response to his film 'Cooking With Stella' at the ongoing Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. He says the audiences 'fully understood the many layers in his film'.

'The gala opening of the festival with our film at Los Angeles was a smashing success,' Mehta told IANS from Los Angeles.

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles started Tuesday and will close on Sunday.

'It was a sell-out screening and the party that followed at the Cabana Club was unbelievably riveting. The entire venue was packed to full capacity with great India cuisine and the bartenders kept every glass brimmed,' said Mehta.

'The huge theatre was packed. The audience was enormously supportive and so fully understood the many layers of our film. Even in the darkness I could make out the smiles and hear the laughter.'

The light comedy revolves around the family of a Canadian diplomat Maya (Lisa Ray), her husband Michael (Don McKellar), their cook Stella (Seema Biswas) and nanny Tannu (Shriya Saran).

Mehta says after the screening, he was mobbed by strangers.

'This is always gratifying because they give honest opinions since they don't have an axe to grind with you. The verdict was that they loved the film, they loved the dialogues and the fresh storyline because it was unlike the usual masala dished out, and they loved Seema, Shriya and Lisa's convincing performances. The compliments were many, many, many,' said Mehta.

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