There are romantic comedies and India hasn't seen too many of them. At least not the really funny ones anyway. So when a film like Cheeni Kum comes along, it makes you sit up and take notice. And laugh.
Buddhadev is 64, grumpy and obsessive about his role as chief chef in London's exclusively authentic Indian Restaurant - Spice6. Living with his mother, his existence is devoid of both spices and cheeni. Predictably then along comes Nina, a 34-year old Indian visiting her friend in London. And amidst spicy Indian-meals and unpredictable London-showers, love blossoms.
R Balki, a veteran in the Indian advertising world, as writer and director has made love a crisp, no-nonsense recipe in the film. The repertoire shared by Buddhadev and Nina is amusing and Balki could not have picked more gifted performers to play them out. The dialogues are witty, trite, sarcastic and hilarious, defying all ideas about sweet love as we've known them, in Indian films.
Just as the first half rocks, the second half sucks. Yes the delicious rebukes between the love birds continue but when the issue of talking to Nina's father for marriage crops up, the movie rolls into melodrama that makes you want to walk out and leave. Paresh Rawal, as Nina's dad - a hardcore Gandhi-lover, has done a fantastic job given the role he's assigned but yet the movie loses its quintessential credibility as things get sillier by the second.
In all, a must-see for the different flavors it offers, but if you're hoping that Balki has broken free from the Bollywood mould and created a really realistic, unique movie, then prepare to be disappointed.
Buddhadev is 64, grumpy and obsessive about his role as chief chef in London's exclusively authentic Indian Restaurant - Spice6. Living with his mother, his existence is devoid of both spices and cheeni. Predictably then along comes Nina, a 34-year old Indian visiting her friend in London. And amidst spicy Indian-meals and unpredictable London-showers, love blossoms.
R Balki, a veteran in the Indian advertising world, as writer and director has made love a crisp, no-nonsense recipe in the film. The repertoire shared by Buddhadev and Nina is amusing and Balki could not have picked more gifted performers to play them out. The dialogues are witty, trite, sarcastic and hilarious, defying all ideas about sweet love as we've known them, in Indian films.
Just as the first half rocks, the second half sucks. Yes the delicious rebukes between the love birds continue but when the issue of talking to Nina's father for marriage crops up, the movie rolls into melodrama that makes you want to walk out and leave. Paresh Rawal, as Nina's dad - a hardcore Gandhi-lover, has done a fantastic job given the role he's assigned but yet the movie loses its quintessential credibility as things get sillier by the second.
In all, a must-see for the different flavors it offers, but if you're hoping that Balki has broken free from the Bollywood mould and created a really realistic, unique movie, then prepare to be disappointed.
