Cheeni Kum - Movie Review

Published: June 19, 2009

By JENNIFER HOPFINGER

Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal

This is not your typical Bollywood love story—and that’s both good and bad. Good because it’s about an unconventional May-December romance. Bad because their courtship is too mundane.

 

Buddhadev (played by Amitabh Bachchan) is a grouchy 64-year-old London chef, who falls for Nina (Tabu), a 34-year-old tourist from Delhi. Buddhadev runs a trendy Indian restaurant, called Spice 6, with tyrannical efficiency. His work ethic, culinary standards, and total devotion to his art are unmatched. When Nina dines at the restaurant and sends back one of his dishes because she says it’s not prepared correctly, he’s incensed—but he’s also intrigued by this woman who, unlike everyone else, refuses to be bullied by him. They run into each other repeatedly and he eventually gets up the courage to ask her out on a date. They’re a good match: she’s a breath of fresh air in his stagnant, work-focused life, and she actually likes the challenge of his difficult nature.

 

The immensely talented lead actors give respectable performances as their ordinary characters grapple with the predictable issues created by their age difference, but it’s the supporting actors who make the movie worth watching. Buddhadev returns every night to the home he shares with his mother, played by Zohra Sehgal, a spry 97-year-old actress. She’s thrilled that her never-married son has a girlfriend and that she might finally unload the old grump, who constantly complains about her cooking but won’t lift a finger in his own kitchen. Adorable child actress Swini Khera melts hearts as Buddhadev’s cancer-stricken, nine-year-old next-door neighbor, whom he’s rather inappropriately nicknamed Sexy. She’s wise beyond her years, and like Nina, she doesn’t put up with his guff. Hence, he has a soft spot for her, too, and sadly, this little girl is his only friend. After Buddhadev proposes and Nina accepts, they go to Delhi together to meet her father, Omprakash, played by Paresh Rawal, one of India’s best comedic actors, who brings much-needed levity to the film. Omprakash, who’s six years younger than Buddhadev, is horrified by his daughter’s choice and determined to prevent the marriage. If it weren’t for theses entertaining secondary characters, the movie would be a drag.

Cheeni Kum is rated Worth Watching.

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