I bought Cheeni Kum without a second thought since it had gotten so many rave reviews. Seriously, regardless of what you'll read in this post, most people really like this film. In fact, I don't think I've read one negative review. Which is precisely why my expectations were so high--I figured since I'm such a sucker for romance, I would absolutely fall in love with it.
I didn't. I liked it, true, but it's definitely something I would have been okay with renting and watching only once. However, the movie's good enough that, since I have my own copy, I'll probably pop in on occasion just to get my money's worth.
And besides, any movie that contains a scene where the great Amitabh Bachchan is embarrassed to buy a pack of condoms is worth watching.
I can't imagine Big B intimidated by anything in real life, and while I realize this scene fit well with his character, I was still pretty amused by the irony of it.
Even if you haven't seen Cheeni Kum, you probably already know that the story is about an older man(Amitabh Bachchan) and a younger woman(Tabu). While I don't really have a strong opinion about age difference (if you're in love, you're in love, as far as I'm concerned), there are two things I found a bit odd about this situation. First of all, Amitabh Bachchan has already done a film in which he romances a younger girl--Nishabd. Except in that one, which I haven't seen (and don't think I could stomach), I believe he is paired with a much younger girl and his character is married. But whatever. That's not really Cheeni Kum's fault. It's just weird. The second strange thing was that Amitabh's character Buddha has a close friendship with a little neighbor girl who is dying of cancer--who he nicknames "Sexy". I'm not implying that there's a creepy underlying message or anything, but I don't think I'd let my neighbor give my daughter a nickname like that...then again, maybe I'm overanalyzing. Best not to think about all of that if you're going to relax and watch Cheeni Kum (So sorry for bringing it up).
Now the good stuff. The writers were smart to make Amitabh's character a chef for several reasons. For one, I love food and I love looking at food. For two, the restaurant scenes and came across as hip and fun and the dishes added a colorful dimension to an otherwise visually dull film. And last but not least, it gave way to an awesome circumstance smack dab in the beginning of the film for the two leads to meet (If you've seen the movie, I've got three words for you--Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao. That was a great opener, wasn't it?).
Another thank you to the writers for casting the adorable Zohra Sengal as Buddha(Amitabh)'s mother. Just about every line she had brought a smile to my face.
Even after only film prior to this one (The Namesake), I can tell I am going to be a Tabu fan. There's just something about her that comes across very real to me. Her style, her expressions, even her hair. She just fits (at least in the two roles I've seen her in).
Amitabh and Tabu worked well together in the film, but I wouldn't describe it as your typical filmi chemistry(but then again, this is a "sugar-free romance", isn't it?). Their relationship was more like a "real-life" romance--they had pet names for one another("greens" and "leg kabob"--loving nicknames but not too sappy), they flirted, they fought, they misunderstood one another. All of these elements were nice touches in creating a romantic comedy that stood out from the rest.
Unfortunately, the movie dragged for me in the second half -- which was odd because Cheeni Kum is much shorter than your average Hindi film at only a little over two hours. Much of this was due to Neena(Tabu)'s father popping up too late for me to care. There was also very little restaurant scenes in this half, which I had really enjoyed.
Paresh Rawal is an unfamiliar face to me, so perhaps I didn't find his entrance in the film as welcome as it should have been, but I just couldn't get into his storyline. Which, by the way, helps if you have a knowledge of the life of Mahatma Gandhi, because otherwise most of the jokes surrounding his character fall flat. In fact, in the final scenes (**Spoiler alert**) where Mr. Verma(Paresh) refuses to eat or drink until his daughter dumps her new beau, you may find yourself just plain irritated if you don't know that fasting was a typical habit of Gandhi-ji himself. Actually, I take that back because I knew this fact and still just wanted the stubborn little man to eat a damn cracker so we could all get on with our lives.
On the bright side, Amitabh's ratty gray ponytail was absent in the second half of the film.
But don't take all of my negativity to heart. I'm in the minority here in my criticism of this film, and chances are you'll like it (everyone else does). It had its sweet moments, but was just a little too dry for my taste at times. Guess I'm just one of those who prefer more sugar rather than less. I'll admit--That's why I love Bollywood in the first place!
Text © 2008 Nida Nazir Bitten By Bollywood
