True to its name, this is no sugary-candy-floss romance. Cheeni Kum (Less Sugar) is a recipe that splices a legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan with the youthfulness of Tabu to create a magical flavor. This is Bachchan’s finest attempt at breaking away from his cliched dramatics.
Spice6 is a restaurant in London, owned by the pony-tailed egocentric chef called Buddhadev Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan) who considers his culinary skills to be no less then an art form, nay bigger than any talent on this holy earth. This confident cook is also intolerant of any indiscipline in the kitchen, including loud ringing mobile phones. He could very well be passed off as the new age kitchen dictator. The trouble starts to brew when his deliciously made Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulav is sent back by a customer Nina Verma (Tabu) with not-so-sweet comments about its sugared taste instead of spicier. Not in least an individual who can take critiques kindly, Buddha confronts the poor lady on her inability to differentiate between the original and a fake pulav and asks her to call up home in India to know the real taste. In her strongest reply, a dish of Zafrani Pulav (the original one this time) is proudly presented to Buddha by Nina herself. The love story begins to cook. An old egoistic loner and a matured woman bond with the passage of time.
Fresh after the success of her acting talent in The Namesake, Tabu is refreshingly energetic as the cultured Nina. Must mention Baby Swini Khara as Sexy (yup that’s her name in the movie) who’s suffering from a terminal disease. Portions of the movie between her and good friend Buddha are cute, hilarious and mellowed at other times. As such the movie is full of comical one liners and smart retorts between the protagonists. Zohra Sehgal, the nonagenarian is playing Buddha’s mother while Paresh Rawal is the Gandhian-modeled father of Nina. Most importantly, the actors are enacting roles that suit that their age and fit accordingly to the script which makes the movie much believable. K. Balki helms the director’s role and does an excellent job piecing the meal together. This movie also marks the return of Illaiyaraja (my favorite) back to Bollywood with 2 of my favourite compositions; Cheeni Kum and Jaane Do Na, both sung by the effervescent and gifted Shreya Ghoshal.
Such an ensemble of talent can only produce sweet memories and an even sweeter experience. Do watch Cheeni Kum even if the title means the opposite.
This is a must bookmark page for all cheeni kum fans and amitabh fans in India
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