Review: Cheeni Kum

Cheeni Kum

Directed by: R. Balki
*ing:Amitabh Bachchan
Tabu
Zohra Sehgal
Swini Khara
Paresh Rawal
Food

Rating: [6/10]

Cheeni Kum throws you straight into Buddhadev Gupta's (Mr. Bachchan) face from the first frame itself. He is egoistic, ruthless and merciless when it comes to maintaining his restaurant’s status. He owns the best “Indian” restaurant in London and he’s way too proud of it.

Enter Nina (Tabu) who shatters his misconceptions in no time. She makes him apologise (almost) and changes his attitude towards life and people itself. He is 64, she is 34. He falls for her and vice-versa. The chemistry turns enthralling and the romance exhillerating. You just want it to go on and on.

If Cheeni Kum had continued with the dry, sarcastic and unique flavour it has in the first 30 minutes, I would have rated in 10 on 10 but this is where it disappoints. How I wish it had!

The first half of this film is bliss. Completely boggling you with extremely witty dialogues and below the belt one-liners. It will make you laugh out loud, which is saying too much. But as soon as you’ve come back to your seat with the popcorn after the interval, the dialogues become vulgur and the jokes monotonous! The scenes involving Paresh Rawal become boring and the climax is a drag too. The whole sweet-sour comedy turns into an Ekta Kapoor family drama. The jokes start irritating and the scenes make no sense. Also the phony nicknames for each and every character don’t work, especially ‘sexy’ for a kid.

The film’s forte are its dialogues and the characters who mouth them.

Mr. Bachchan comes into his own as the aggressive chef. He is lovable, naughty, egoistic and confident without making it all look cheap in any way. He is a delight when he tries getting all mushy with Tabu. You just cant take your eyes off him. Also off the record, he looks smashing in a complete white suit in one of the scenes.

Tabu is amazing as the sarcastic and adamant Nina. She will steal your heart with those mischievous smirks and nasty smiles. She proves yet again that she’s one of the best actors alive.

Of the supporting cast, Zohra Sehgal as Mr. Bachchan’s mother is lovely and spot on with her comic timing. There’s not a dull moment when the bright old lady is around.
Paresh Rawal as Mr. Verma is passable.

What will go back home with you is Sexy’s (Swini Khara) performance as Buddha’s best friend. She is amazing with her dead-pan dialogue delivery and has the best lines in the film which she does full justice to. This is the most awesome child artist performance you will see after Black. It’s a pleasure.

Cheeni Kum could have been a revolutionary masterpiece in Indian cinema. Opening the doors for off-best, dry, un-emotional, romantic comedies but it isn’t. Director R. Balki strikes but only 50% and looses it on the way home. Don’t go into the theatre expecting too much and you won’t be disappointed.

- Abbas Aziz Dalal.