Film Review: Cheeni Kum

Producer: Sunil Manchandani
Director: R. Balakrishnan
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, Paresh Rawal and Zohra Sehgal
Music:Illaiyaraja
Lyrics:Sameer and Manoj Tapadia

Amitabh Bachchan rocks once again and with yet another brilliant performance and a new role performed cleanly. After Nishabd, Bachchan is again in the mood for rolling in romantics with a young girl in Cheeni Kum. This time the script unfurls a different story and the role is also a little refined. Romance in Nishabd was a mixture of love but here romance is between a man of 60 and a woman of 30, unlike between a boy and girl, also with enough laughter side.

Director Balakrishnan in his debut makes a good start in the first half but is bowled out in the second, especially in the last half hour. Balakrishnan loses a little focus and that prevents him from scoring his ton. The movie is cheerful, although there is little sugar which does not leave flavor afterwards.

In Cheeni Kum, a 64-years old unmarried Buddhadev Gupta (played by A.Bachchan), an NRI and a well known chef runs one the finest Indian vegetarian restaurant Spice 6 in London. He reassures other chefs in his restaurant that they are the best artists and hence should not compromise on the quality of the food. The kitchen is full of happenings and humour. There is more spice in the first half of the show. The conversation between Buddhadev and his chefs especially Colgate can really make you mouth open wide.

The love angle starts with the entry of Nina-34 (Tabu) a Delhi based tourist to London who visits the restaurant and dares to criticize the Hydrabadi Zafarani Pulao. The confrontation between Bachan and Tabu follows regular visits and develops into friendship in the restaurant. A wise thought puts them at the ends of a marriage proposal. Both Bachan and Tabu has a rare on screen chemistry and are as natural as would be a man in his 60’s and a woman in her 30’s.

The first half runs smoothly with great performances by both the lead actors including the character of Zohra Sehgal as the mother of Buddhadev in typical style of Sehgal. The other juicy thing is the friendship of Amitabh with a little sweet girl named sexy (played by Swini Khara) who carries an old mind with small shoulder. Her witty remarks about Bachchan are really loveable. So far as roles played by supporting actors are concerned, they have done well but it is missing in the second half as the directors tries to drag the story a bit unnecessarily.

The real drama comes with the entry of Nina’s father Om (played by Paresh Rawal) who opposes the marriage as his son in law is 6-year older than him. Though their introduction makes the atmosphere bit lighter but the many repetitions in the later part makes it boring and particularly the exaggerated sequence of satyagraha.

Illaiyaraja’s music is really soothing and the title track played in background is catching in the first half does not have much effect in the second. Editing and screen play could have been better. There are some scenes that make the film seem a bit lengthy with a small plot.

However, the acting by both Bachchan and Tabu fits well to their grade in the industry. Especially if you are a Bachchan fan then it’s a must watch. There are some scenes when Tabu asks Bachchan to run the other end of the field just to check his stamina and Paresh Rawal’s witty comment on age and Amitabh’s expression on those comments are really memorable.

A little seriousness is added with the little girl dying with blood cancer and Bachchan’s love for her. Though there are some moments that keep the sugar level high but in the later part the director might have had fear of diabetics. However, if you don’t like Bollywood’s conventional comedy then it is one of the finest satirical comedies with best performances by the lead actors. So I can recommend you to taste the sugar in the movie.

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