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Cheeni
Kum***1/2 |
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Cheeni
Kum is no Nishabd, nor is it a typical Bollywood film. On the contrary,
it is a lighthearted romantic comedy that works because of its sly,
dry humour, sarcastic yet sweet romance and its star cast.
Set in London, our introduction to the film begins with Buddhadev
Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan), the chef and owner of the best Indian restaurant
in the city. Buddha is an arrogant, egoist whose only passion in life
is cooking. For him, cooking is the biggest, most prestigious art
in the world. Anyone who makes a mistake should be thrown out of his
business.
Buddha lives with his 85-year-old mother (Zohra Sehgal) whose mission
in life is to send her 64-year-old son to the gym. Buddha's human
side comes out only in front of an 8-year-old girl who he calls sexy
(Swini Kara). She is dying of cancer and the two develop an incredible
bond. |
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One
fine day enters 34-year-old Nina Verma (Tabu) to his slick restaurant
where no customer ever complains. Nina complains. An ego gets bruised,
followed with a lecture, a beautiful smile and thus begins a friendship.
Nina is an independent woman who can match the ego of Buddha and bring
him down to earth. His brand of sarcastic humour isn't lost on her
either, in fact she matches it. Friendship turns to love and then
enters Nina's father, Omprakash Mehra (Paresh Rawal). He is six years
younger to Buddha, a Gandhian to the max and someone who reminds everyone
around him of their 'old' age. Herein lies the problem. Buddha and
Nina fall in love but the age difference is too much for the Gandhi-lovin'
father to take. Thus begins the story.
Older man-younger woman is not a novel concept. Just recently Amitabh
Bachchan played an old man falling for a young girl in Nishabd. But
the difference between two roles is as diverse as chalk and cheese.
In Nishabd, Amitabh was visibly uncomfortable… at least in parts.
But here it's wit that sets the path for this film. And the 30-year
difference is acceptable. It makes sense when one sees how this relationship
develops.
Cheeni Kum is a sign of the changing face of Bollywood. Slowly, this
industry is breaking away from stereotypical stories. Films like Dhoom,
Honeymoon Travels Pvt Limited, Khosla Ka Ghosla and Cheeni Kum are
proof that Bollywood is setting up to conquer the art of storytelling.
Cheeni Kum works not only because of its script and dialogues but
it also works because of its actors. When it comes to acting, Tabu
is one of the most talented of this generation. After her brilliant
work in The Namesake, here it is a delight to see a young, laughing
and strong willed Tabu. She is, as always, at the top of her game.
Amitabh Bachchan on the other hand, is good but patchy. At some places,
it seems as if he is a bit too serious for the role. After all, the
posture that one carries when one is a cop and when one is a cook
should be different. But other than some scenes, especially the beginning,
Amitabh delivers a solid performance.
As the mother of an arrogant cook, Zohra Sehgal is adorable. She is
the character that one instantly falls in love with. And then there
is child artist Swini Kara who plays Buddha's neighbour. Her short
role is darn effective. She's cheeky and quite mature for her age,
which is fun to watch. These days, kids grow up way too early and
Swini plays this reality very well.
The flaw in this film is its length. The first half of the film could
have been tighter. It drags at some instances and here, the director
R. Balakrishnan struggles slightly. Another flaw is the role of Paresh
Rawal. He is brilliant but an actor of his calibre has been wasted
in this flimsy role.
The good news is one can get past these flaws because of the grabbing
scenes between Amitabh and Tabu and the manner with which they deal
with each other. It's also shot very well. The camerawork that moves
from Amitabh's stunned glaze to Tabu's passing, seductive smile makes
one hell of an impact!
For all its humour, Cheeni Kum is a delightful film. It is not a waste
of time so watch it now!
--Maheen Sabeeh
*YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****AWESOME
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