Food has an undeniable part in Indian culture as it occupies centre stage whatever might be the occasion be it everyday life, weddings or festivals. Being a foodie, I have always loved to sample various cuisines & thanks to Mom, I would consider my culinary skills to be quite good. This is the very reason why I love reality shows like "Masterchef Australia" & look upto Chefs like Heston Blumenthal, Marco Pierre White, Jamie Oliver to name a few. So when Saif's "Chef" was released this weekend, I was excited to check it out despite being a remake. Hmm....will it be able to whet our appetite???
Roshan Kalra (Saif Ali Khan) is a three Michelin star chef who worked at an upscale restaurant in New York. But the spark that had elevated him to this position had diminished & it started to show in his food as well. When one of the customers did question the quality of his food, he loses his cool & ended up losing his job. On the advice of his friend, he returns to India to visit his son Arman (Svar Kamble) & ex-wife Radha (Padmapriya) in Cochin. It is at this time that the idea of a food truck is mooted by Radha's friend Biju (Milind Soman) which Roshan doesnt buy into initially. However, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to re-discover his passion for food & spent quality with his son.
As mentioned earlier, this is the official remake of Jon Fraveau's "Chef" & Raja Krishna Menon had taken on the task. He is best known for "Airlift" though he had garnered critical acclaim for his debut venture "Barah Aana" as well. In his latest effort, he deserves praise for the apt casting but his direction left a lot to be desired. The biggest flaw is undoubtedly the lack of highlight on the food which was surprising especially since that was meant to be a character as well. Anywaz brownie points for capturing the father-son relationship realistically. Priya Seth has done a fine job with the cinematography while Raghu Dixit & Amaal Mallik has given us decent tracks.
Saif Ali Khan has done a fantastic job as the chef going through a crisis & seemed a natural for the role. Padmapriya has always been a fine performer but for the people in the North, she is a new face & will surely be impressed by her performance. Svar Kamble was both adorable & talented while Mr. Ironman Milind Soman deserves praise for his brief role. Each & every artist in this movie have done their parts aptly which has gone a long way in elevating the movie that has been let down by the script.
Verdict: It's the kind of movie that is unlikely to create waves at the box office & would appeal only to the urban audience. Even then, it doesnt quite match upto the original nor with other excellent food based movies that we have such as "The Lunchbox", "Ustaad Hotel", "Nala Damayanthi" etc. It had the potential to become a mouth watering delicacy, but is let down by a rather bland script. Despite that, you can give it a try as it is definitely a feel good movie!!!
Rating: 2.5/5
Regards...Ben
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